Harry Potter and the Veil of Mysteries
by Melpomene blue
Summary: Sixth year has begun and Hogwarts is still without a Defense Against the Dark Arts master. But what secrets follow Dumbledore's choice as she takes her post?
1. 1

Title: Harry Potter and the Veil of Mysteries

Author:  Melpomene

Email: melpomene_blue@yahoo.com

Disclaimer:  I own nothing, the copyrights are held by J.K. Rowling, etc.

Spoilers:  This takes place after the book: **_Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_**.

Author's note:  I had posted this (in a way) under a different title some months ago.  I came to a stand still however and was content to leave it incomplete until I read the last book and thought that if I changed a bit of the story, it could be somewhat interesting.  It's a bit the same but some particulars have been altered.  The following chapters will be along as soon as they make their way into a Word program.

Harry Potter and the Veil of Mysteries 

Harry eyed Dumbledore uncertainly.

"You want me to leave Hogwarts?"  Surely he had misunderstood the headmaster's words.  They had only just returned to Hogwarts to begin their sixth year.  Hermione had yet to even become fully bogged down in her class work and Ron and he were still showing up late to Transfiguration, having not yet decided on the quickest route from their class just before it.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brightly.  "Not on a permanent level, Harry, no.  But I've taken the liberty of speaking to your instructors to explain that you will be missing from their classes for most of next week."

The aged wizard continued before Harry could form a coherent thought.   "I'm sure it has not escaped your attention that we are, yet again, short one Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and I had hoped to remedy that, with your help, of course."

Harry stared dumbfounded.  Of course everyone had noticed the vacant seat at the table in the dining hall where that horrible Umbridge woman had sat the previous year before she had temporarily taken over the seat of Dumbledore himself, where Professor Moody had sat the year before that, and Professor Lupin the year before that, and so on until Harry had yet to have the same Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor for two years in a row.  He and his friends had no choice in noticing the ethereal figure of Sir Nicholas in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom either.  The patron ghost of Gryffindor had been quick to relay that he was merely filling in until a new teacher was procured.  But why would Dumbledore send him away from the protection of Hogwarts when they both knew good and well that Voldemort had returned as strong as ever and was elbow deep in rallying his supporters again?  Only a handful of Deatheaters had been apprehended in the Ministry of Magic the previous spring, Harry felt sure there were still lots more waiting around for Voldemort to sic on him.

"Well," Harry said uncertainly, "alright then, I suppose…"

"If I felt that your safety was at risk on such a journey, I would not suggest your inclusion.  The truth of the matter, Harry, is that not even I can provide the full compliment of protection we will all require in these darkening times."

Dumbledore's face lost some measure of its merriment.  "You will accompany Professor Snape to Land's End."  He continued on as if he had not noticed Harry's sudden intake of breath at the mention of Snape's name.  "Once there, you will need to locate a woman by the name of Hydrangea Berryknots at number fifteen Hessington Way.  Hand her this."

Dumbledore's hand delved deep into his robes and withdrew an envelope sealed with the Hogwarts' insignia.

"I cannot imagine Hyde will be altogether pleased to discover Professor Snape on her front stoop and that is why I am asking you to accompany him.  I am hopeful that together you will be able to convince Hyde to return to us here at Hogwarts.  We require her help now more than ever."

**~O:O:O~**

Harry's stomach roiled with countless unspoken emotions.  He had no desire to so much as look at Snape, much less spend the next several days solitarily in his company.  Harry still blamed Snape for Sirius' death regardless that Dumbledore had accepted responsibility for the entire situation coalescing as it had done.  And although he had chanced to see those few glimpses into Snape's unhappy past, although it had made Harry question the sort of by his father had been, Harry's hatred of the potions master had not waned.

Ron and Hermione, who were taking an uncharacteristic holiday from their constant bickering, had given him nothing but sympathetic looks ever since he had told them about his conversation with Dumbledore.  Harry found himself missing their usual arguments.  At least the ruckus would give his mind something else to focus on rather than the horrid time he was sure to have with Professor Snape.

"Maybe Dumbledore really is off his rocker for wanting you and Snape to go together," Ron muttered at dinner.  "I mean, what's he expect?  You and Snape hate each other."

Harry merely shrugged and turned his attention to his plate.  He tried to ignore the look Hermione was directing his way.  He didn't want to think of the insights his friend was creating as to the reasons behind Dumbledore's decision.

Hermione and Ron stood on the massive front steps, waving goodbye as Harry took his bed on the Knight Bus.  He waved back and forced a smile, fearing his face held the same anxious expression as his friends'.

Snape had said nothing when Harry had met him late that evening at the school's entrance to await the arrival of the Knight Bus.  He had merely looked down at him with cold eyes before he raised his wand hand to summon their transportation.  Through experience, Harry had learned that the less he said to Snape, the happier they both were and so he intended to pretend to be asleep for the duration of their trip to Land's End.

"Look 'e 'ere, Ernie!  Why, it's ol' Neville ag'in.  'Ow's ya been, ol' boy?"

Harry nodded, hoping the conductor would accept his wordless response.  Subconsciously, he smoothed the hair over the scar on his forehead.  Even with his head ducked, he felt the weight of Snape's disapproving scowl at the conductor's odd greeting.

The bus jolted into motion and tore across the school grounds.  Harry nearly slipped off his bed when the driver turned sharply to avoid the Whomping Willow that stood poised, limbs flailing, for their approach.

"'At one's tricky," Ernie said, jerking his thumb in the general direction of the tree.  "Won' move outta th' way fer anythin'."

Harry dared a quick glance at Snape but the Potions professor was reclining against his own bed, his eyes closed and he looked to be sound asleep.  At least he could try to get some rest before they reached Land's End, he decided.  Especially if Snape was going to remain asleep and not torment him for the bus ride.

  **~O:O:O~**

The bus deposited them on the edge of the town just as the sun was beginning to peer over the horizon.  Land's End was pretty in a cut-off-from-the-rest-of-the-Muggle-world sort of way.  It reminded Harry of Hogsmeade, just in the negative.  Where Hogsmeade was magical in nature, Land's End was rustic.  Hessington Way itself was a sleepy little cobbled road that wound between quiet white washed houses whose shutters were only beginning to be flung open to let in the first rays of bright morning sunlight.

In utter silence they found number fifteen and Harry scuffed his shoes on the gravel path that led to the front door of the little cottage.  He felt in his pocket for the envelope Dumbledore had asked him to deliver and panicked for a moment when he thought he might have left it in his school robe.  Relief flooded through him when he located the parchment in his pants pocket and he pulled it out to examine it one last time before summoning the owner of the cottage to their front door.

Professor Snape stood just behind him, quiet as the dead.  Harry had been surprised to see Snape remove his wizard robes on the bus to reveal completely normal looking, if not still black, Muggle clothing.  Even his hair had lost its perpetual greasy nature and lay long and lank on his shoulders.  It gave Harry cause to wonder how Snape could have such an excellent grasp of appropriate Muggle clothing when so many in the wizarding world were clueless, as had been made painfully evident at the International Quidditch Cup.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Harry rapped on the doorsill with his knuckles and waited for an answer.  They waited several minutes to no avail and he knocked again.  Only silence surrounded them and Harry glanced over his shoulder toward Professor Snape.

"Maybe she's stepped out for the morning," Harry suggested half-heartedly.

"Hyde is here, she is simply refusing to answer the door."  

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she knows we are here," Snape sneered.

Snape sounded so positive of himself that Harry found himself in a quandary.  Should he continue to knock even though the door would probably not be answered, or should he step back and allow Snape to deal with the whole situation?  Deciding to try one last time, Harry's knuckles had not so much as brushed against the wood when an owl descended from above and dropped a small envelope to the brick stoop.

Harry watched the letter fall and cast a furtive glance at Snape before he reached down to pick it up.  Turning it over, he discovered it was addressed to them both.

Harry Potter & Severus Snape

front stoop

15 Hessington Way

Land's End 

He peeled the envelope open and unfolded the single sheet of paper that was inside.

Go away, please.

H.B.

"Delwynderyn," Snape called snappishly.  The huge owl that had delivered Hydrangea's letter to them alighted on a gate post near the front door and eyes Snape suspiciously.  "Give him Dumbledore's letter, Potter."

Harry looked at the owl but he could see no bindings with witch to attach the letter.

"Just hold it out to him, Potter," Snape barked.  "Delwynderyn does not tolerate being fettered in any way."

Harry held the note up, being wary of the bird's sharp beak.  The owl carefully snagged the letter in his talons and, in a great whoosh of spread wings, he ascended into the air above the cottage and disappeared form view.

They stood in silence and Harry felt a growing sense of unease as the seconds ticked by into minutes.  Just as he had decided that their trip had been for naught, the cottage door swung open to reveal a woman glaring at them from the other side.  Tall and slender, and quite definitely the loveliest woman Harry had ever chanced to rest eyes upon, her eyes swept over both of her visitors, pausing briefly at each of their faces before moving on again.

"Sev, you haven't changed a bit," she murmured, allowing a tiny smile to lighten her face.  "But you, oh my how you've changed, Harry dear.  The last time I saw you, you were still just a wee little thing."  Her smile brightened even more and she reached out to pull Harry into a tight embrace.

Harry slowly returned the hug, his eyes searching out Snape over the woman's shoulder.  Snape's expression was frozen in disbelief but Harry was unsure if it was due to the outpouring of affection or if it was the fact that she had opened the door to them at all.

"Come along, Sev," she called.  Pulling Harry into the cottage, she returned her attention to him.  "If you've come all this way you might as well come on inside.  I was just about to sit down to a nice cuppa.  Now you can join me."

  **~O:O:O~**

The tea was pleasantly hot after their stroll in the damp morning air and tasted vaguely of violets and Harry sipped it slowly as he peered at Hyde over the rim of his chipped teacup.  Taking a moment to study her more closely than he had at the door, he mused that Hermione might one day look the same as the woman seated across from him; great waves of chestnut colored curls were swept up into a loose knot on the top of her head, large brown eyes seemed to take in everything around them and held more knowledge than any one person had a right to know, and their was an air of quiet, if not slightly impatient, pompousness in her bearing.  He cast a sideways glance at Professor Snape just as Hyde chose to break their silence.

"To what do I owe the honor of **your** presence, Sev?  Don't tell me you were merely in the neighborhood and thought to pop in, the Knight Bus very rarely makes the trek this far west.  There are no wizards or witches in these parts save me, and since I am no longer practicing…"  She stared pointedly at Snape, her mouth drawn into a tight line.

"You've read the letter?"  Snape's tone was cold but there was also the barest hint of some hidden emotion Harry could not put a name to.

Harry silently noted the change in her attitude when she spoke to Snape as opposed to when she addressed him.  To Snape she was cold and foreboding, but whenever her attention was drawn to Harry, she was warm and friendly.  It was almost frightening to see the rapid change in her eyes and tone of voice.

Harry had only witnessed one other person switch so rapidly from pleasant conversation to scathing remarks and back again with such practiced ease.  Mrs. Weasley, the day Ron and his brothers had rescued him from the Dursleys', had been simultaneously furious with her children and delighted to see him.  He wondered if it was simply a talent born from being a witch or if it was a learned habit.

"Dumbledore sends his regards, as I am certain you are already aware.  Had I known the details of this excursion when Dumbledore first proposed it, I assure you, I would never have agreed to accompany young Potter."  

"You would have left the child to his journey with a less qualified companion?  Does your schoolboy hatred of James still affect your behavior so severely, even after this many years?  Or is it me you would wish to avoid?"

Snape met her eyes with icy resolve.  "Avoiding you is no great feat, Hyde.  I choose to live in the world of reality, it is you who turned your back on all the responsibilities you once purported to uphold so dearly.  I did not flee Hogwarts in the midnight hour nor did I bewitch my students.  I did not abandon those who cared most about me."  He sneered at the woman who lifted her chin in solemn defiance.  "You've a real treat, Potter.  You're having tea with none other than the most knowledgeable and, without question, most talented professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts that Hogwarts ever had the pleasure to claim as its own."

"I can't say that I would agree with that assessment.  After all, I failed at my most important task."  She swirled her tea cup idly, her eyes downcast.

"You succeeded where no other could.  It was your own over-inflated ego that led you to believe you alone could stand between your friends and their enemies with any amount of success.  What you **were** able to do was beyond anyone's comprehension, even my own."  Snape's eyes were unreadable in the shadow of his lank hair.  "No one, not even your beloved Dumbledore, understood the cost of your sacrifice until you had fled into the night."

She glared heatedly at Snape and pulled Dumbledore's letter from her pocket.  The seal had been broken and she unfolded the crumpled missive within, spreading it on the tabletop with delicate fingers that trembled ever so slightly.  She glanced over the contents quickly and silently while Harry and Snape drained their cups and avoided one another's eyes.  Once she had finished, Harry watched her eyes dart to his arms but whatever it was she had thought to glimpse was covered over by his shirtsleeves.

"Yes, Hyde," Snape remarked slowly.  "He has returned.  We have your old friend, Peter Pettigrew, to thank for that."

"He was never a friend of mine," she snapped.  "I never understood why James, Sirius, and Remus put up with him tagging along after them like he did.  Lily pitied him, in a way, but I just felt he had a hidden agenda."  She quirked an eyebrow.  "I can't say as I'm that surprised to discover his treachery.  I'm only sorry I was right."

"You knew my parents?" Harry interrupted, suddenly wanting to steer the conversation toward somewhat less sensitive matters.

"Ah, yes.  How else would I know it was you on my doorstep?" she teased, her expression brightening.  "We were all great friends once upon a time, even though they were in Gryffindor and I was a Ravenclaw, not to mention a full year younger.  I even counted your Professor Snape among my friends once long ago."  She nodded her head toward the brooding man.  "Not an easy task considering he was a Slytherin and I was a mudblood."

She fell quiet, allowing the sunny kitchen to fill with a not wholly uncomfortable silence.  After several minutes' inner contemplation, she spoke again.

"You, lovie, are the very image of your dear parents.  They were so happy when you came into their lives, they loved you so much.  They would be very proud of you, were they here with us still."  She cut her eyes at Snape as if waiting for him to challenge her comment.

"Do you intend to give Dumbledore an answer or are you planning to keep us hostage in your kitchen for the rest of the week?  I dare say, we would be almost as safe here as we would be in the Chamber of Secrets.  The first place he is likely to look will be here."

Hyde glared at the Potions professor for an extended time before she finally sighed deeply.  

"When I walked away from the wizarding world, I didn't do it lightly, Severus.  I never had any intention of returning.  I had already failed Lily and James, and after what happened to Frank and Alice…  I never wanted the possibility of repeating that mistake."

"But what of duty and responsibility?  It was **you** who demanded we all do our share to bring **him** down from power."  Snape's pale face seemed to darken as he angrily spat out the words.

"And it was **you** who was the **first** to betray us."

Harry watched, wide-eyed, as the argument between Hyde and Snape came to a grinding halt.  Neither said another word as Hyde rose from the table and piled the tea china into the sink.  She seemed to be fighting a horde of inner demons when she turned to the garden door and pushed it open, her eyes trained on a distant tree.  The unmistakable form of the owl he had dealt with on the front stoop swooped down from the tree and entered the cottage to alight on the back of the chair Hyde had just vacated.

Defeated, Hyde clucked to the giant owl softly.  "Come along, Delwynderyn.  It seems our self-imposed exile has come to a premature end."

**~O:O:O~**

Diagon Alley was crowded when they arrived.  Wizards and witches, decked out in a full spectrum of colors, hurried along the sidewalks, stopped to chat with friends, or window-shopped leisurely.  It was Harry, Professor Snape and Hydrangea Berryknots who stood out like sore thumbs in their drab non-descript Muggle clothes.

Snape glared at the open street, his face an impenetrable mask of disapproval.  He had said very little since their conversation over tea, disappearing into a back room of Hyde's cottage while she had set about gathering what was left of her magical items.  Before slipping away, he had seen to it that Delwynderyn was sent off to Professor Dumbledore with a slip of parchment clutched in his talons that would, doubtless, announce their impending arrival.

A wand had been recovered from the window it had held propped open and Hyde shoved it into her jeans pocket while spell books had been snagged out from under table legs but, in the end, she had opted to buy a new robe.  Harry had been amused to discover her old one billowing like a scarlet banshee in the vegetable patch behind her home.  The hem was frayed, the scarecrow's crossbeam had poked through one shoulder, and the gold toned velvet border was mottled and threadbare.  Even the matching pointed hat had been relegated to scarecrow duty, its tip unraveling and loose strings left to fly in the breeze.  

"Let's see," Hyde mused solemnly.  "Where to go first?"

"It would appear that you need… everything."

"Don't be cheeky."  She mirrored Snape's expression as he glowered at her.  "I think our first stop should be to the Leaky Caldron.  My stomach could do with a bit of nourishment.  What do you say?  Are you hungry, dearie?"  Hyde quirked a brow at Harry who still found himself to be nearly speechless in the presence of the odd pair he accompanied.  He simply nodded and began to feel foolish that no words would produce themselves.

The trio had nearly reached the pub when a frail voice called out and stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Hydrangea Berryknots?  Is that truly you, my girl?"

They turned in unison and Harry spied a little old woman with a widow's hump wagging a cane in the air.  He looked up at Hyde whose eyes seemed to light up with the small smile she directed at the woman.  The elderly witch hurried through the dumbfounded crowd with a speed that surprised him.  Murmurs rose around them as the woman tottered up to Hyde.

"Hydrangea Berryknots?  It can't be."

"I thought she was dead."

"If she's come back out of hiding, it can't be a good sign."

"Keeping company with Harry Potter, and isn't that Severus Snape?  Wonder what's about to rain down on our heads now."

"Weren't she the one that let it all happen to begin wit'?"

Snape's head jerked toward whomever had uttered the hushed accusation, but the street around them was far too crowded to discern who had said what.  Harry wondered at the flash of anger that had sparked in the potions master's eyes.

"My dear, dear girl."  The ancient witch rested a gnarled hand on Hyde's arm and squeezed it gently.  "But it has been a while, has it not?"

"Madame Hoeffenfinch, how wonderful it is to see you again.  Tell me, how have you been?"

"Quite adequate, my child."  The old woman's sharp eyes flitted from Harry to Professor Snape.

Harry was growing increasingly more uncomfortable under such close inspection and he tried to smooth down his hair to better disguise his scar.  He had not received so much attention since Hagrid had first taken him to the Leaky Caldron some years before.

"You are keeping odd company these days, Hydrangea."

Hyde's eyes narrowed slightly.  "Oh?  What makes you say that?"

"The good, the bad… the innocent," Madame Hoeffenfinch's eyes traveled from Hydrangea to Snape and finally came to rest momentarily on Harry.  "Makes one wonder at the goings on of the world when such remarkable alliances are forged."  She shook her head and lightly tapped at Hyde's arm with her cane.  "Be good, my girl.  Come round for a visit when you are able."

Hyde, Harry, and Snape watched the witch disappear into the once again bustling street.

"That's odd," Hyde commented as she continued to stare after the ancient lady even after they had lost sight of her.

"What was odd?" Harry asked.

Hyde shrugged.  "She's a registered animangus.  Usually she just flies away."

**~O:O:O~**

Despite being in Professor Snape's presence for the four days he was away from Hogwarts, Harry enjoyed the short holiday from his class work almost as much as he missed Ron and Hermione's company.  The mystery surrounding Hydrangea Berryknots had grown exponentially during their stay in the rooms above the pub and Harry was anxious to discuss with his friends the reasons that might lurk behind such a thing.  Everyone Hyde met in Diagon Alley knew her name and they seemed either to admire her or loathe her, but stranger still was her relationship with Professor Snape.

They taunted one another endlessly but without any real malice.  It seemed to Harry that their words were like the steps of an intricate dance from which they had merely taken an extended respite.  Aside from the silent worry and constant vigilance of Hyde's gaze when she thought she was unobserved, she and Professor Snape had appeared to fall into an easy, albeit confusing, companionship.  They reminded him a great deal of Ron and Hermione.

It puzzled Harry.  He had only known Dumbledore to have the last word in a confrontation with Snape, but the potions professor allowed Hyde the same privilege time and again.  At times the woman even seemed to try to egg Snape into a full out row and her eyes glinted with an odd emotion when he would back down and fall to silence.  It puzzled Harry greatly.

Late on their fourth night in their rented rooms, Harry heard a quiet discussion in the hallway outside his room.  He slid from beneath the linens of his bed and padded softly across the room to press his ear to the door.  His interest was not wrought of concern, Hyde had assured him that no one would be able to get within three hundred feet of him without her first knowing about it and there had been something about her determined tone that made Harry believe her without question.  He was more intrigued by the fact that the soft voices were unmistakably those of Snape and Hyde.

"I would speak to you concerning our current predicament, Hydrangea."

"It's late, Sev.  Must we dredge up all the muck of our pasts and presents at such an awful hour?"

"Hydrangea…"  Snape sounded as if he wanted to continue.

"Fine then.  Which predicament would you be referring to?  That I'm returning to Hogwarts?  That I once again beat you out as Defense against the Dark Arts master?  That Voldemort is back and wants both you and Harry dead?  That the last time I saw you I thought you had betrayed us all?  That our child died because of my involvement with the Order?  Our lives are far from simple things, Severus, and they become more complex with each passing hour."  Hyde's breath hitched as her words drew to an end.

"What has passed between us cannot be undone."

Harry leaned closer to the door, pressing his ear to the wood in hopes of hearing the quiet conversation better.

After a silence, Snape spoke again.  "You abandoned the wizarding world some fifteen years ago, Hydrangea.  In a decade and a half you have not uttered one spell or mixed even the simplest of potions.  You were great once, the most knowledgeable student of protection against the dark arts.  I wonder that you will be able to fall so easily into the roll again.  Fifteen years is a long time."

Hyde sighed.  "Please, Severus.  Let's discuss this in the light of day.  It's been such a very long day and I'm tired.  It's been quite a trying week."

Snape's voice was cold when he replied.  "Which part has been the most trying for you, Hydrangea?  Coming face to face with the child of the very people whose deaths you single-handedly claim responsibility?  Knowing that once you are at Hogwarts you will also find yourself in the company of Frank and Alice's son, Neville?  Another orphan for whom you feel responsible.  Or perhaps it is the return to everything you have denied being a part of these last fifteen years.  Or could the most trying aspect of this entire endeavor be your proximity to me?"

Hydrangea's voice was whisper soft.  "As you've said, it's been fifteen years, Severus. Much can change in so long a time, and much can stay the same.  We are both very different now, the world is different now."

"And yet those things which should have changed the most have stayed miraculously the same."

Hyde sounded slightly worried.  "What do you mean?"

"Why did you keep it?  Why not throw it away or sell it to the highest bidder?  I daresay you would have had quite a few takers."

Harry hears Hyde gasp softly.

"Give it here!" Hyde demanded.  "You have no right, it's mine!"

"Is it not customary for the bride to return dispose of the wedding ring once the marriage is over?"

"I **never** ended our marriage!  I was angry and confused but I never stopped being in love."

"At least not until you spoke to Lily."

"Lily is the one who tried to convince me to talk to you.  She couldn't or wouldn't believe that someone she knew would be involved with Voldemort.  But she was wrong, there were dozens of his followers among our old classmates.  She alone knew you had turned traitor against Voldemort although she couldn't tell me at the time.  I didn't learn of her involvement until I handed in my resignation to Dumbledore."

Hyde sighed.  "But even when you were among the Deatheaters… even when we knew you had betrayed all we held dear… I always loved you.  I've loved you ever since as well.  That's why I kept the ring.  It reminded me of you when nothing else could."

Harry climbed back into bed dumbfounded.  Everything was beginning to make sense.  Dumbledore had sent them to retrieve Hyde because she would be better able to protect them against Voldemort.  Hyde and Snape's odd familiarity came from what must have been an intense intimacy at one time.  Even the expectation of Hyde's displeasure to see Snape made sense. 

Hydrangea and Snape were married.  They had been at one time at least.  Harry found it difficult to understand how anyone could bear to marry Professor Snape, much less claim to love him still.  The thoughts whirled pell-mell through Harry's brain.  He needed to talk to Hermione and Ron.  There was too much to comprehend, too much to absorb.  He would have to act as if he had not overheard the conversation when he awoke the next morning, if he could go to sleep at all.

He lay in bed, staring at the curtains that closed him off from the rest of the room and tried to quiet his thoughts.  Suddenly, he recalled his few occlumency lessons and worked to clear his mind.  It took some doing, but he was at last able to push away the tumultuous thoughts and drift into a dreamless sleep.  His last conscious thought was that he had indeed finally learned something useful from Professor Snape.


	2. 2

_It's been a while, I know, and this is rather short compared to the previous chapter… but I thought I would pick it up once more._ Part two 

Harry sat uneasily at a table in the pub that next morning.  His back was to the wall and he faced the stairs where, at any minute, Snape and Hyde would appear and while he waited he tried to sort out how to go about pretending to not have eavesdropped on the hushed conversation between the two adults the previous night.  He was still dazed with all he had heard and could hardly manage to keep himself in the Leaky Caldron rather than leaving immediately for Hogwarts where he might be able to discuss all the ramifications of such startling revelations.  

Snape… married.  Ugh!  He shivered at the very notion that anyone could possibly claim to love such a vile person as the potions master.  And Hyde had mentioned a child, their child… their child who had died because of her involvement with the Order.  She could only have been speaking of the Order of the Phoenix.  How many people had suffered because of Voldemort and his hatred?

A cold drop of water plopped onto the back of his hand and Harry tilted his head up to stare at the slanted ceiling above the table.  His chosen position had been on what must have once been an open porch and jutted from the rest of the building to stick out crazily like the broken spoke of an old wheel.  Three round tables were perched rather precariously on a bit of a raised platform and chairs had been crowded around them.  He had heard the first pitter of rain hit his window when he had first risen and he assumed the storm had grown steadily worse since then.  Occasionally, a rumble of deep thunder would shake the floor beneath his feet.  Sadly, his table far out from the rest of the room, was proving to live up to the pub's name.  It was certainly leaky.

"Good morning, Harry dear!  Daydreaming, eh?"

Harry jerked his eyes up to light on Hydrangea who stood across the table from him.  She beamed a bright smile at him and nodded toward the woman who stood behind the bar.  He had never heard her come up to the table, his thoughts had been so muddled and far away.  He managed a weak smile when Hyde slipped into a chair.

"Tell me, have you seen Professor Snape this morning?" Hyde asked with a tone forcibly light and edged all around with worry.  "He wasn't in his room when I checked just before I came down and I thought I would find him here, but…"

Harry watched her look at the dozen or so faces that filled the corners of the room.  He could see a tightening in her eyes and at the corners of her mouth.  She was more that just a little worried, she was extremely concerned.  He rapidly shook his head.  "No, I haven't seen him since last night.  Why?"

Hyde bit her lower lip and twisted a thick lock of hair between her fingers.  She had foregone the bun ever since they had arrived at Diagon Alley, right along with her Muggle clothes, and had let her hair tumble down her back in shining waves to her waist.  She had also donned a set of robes whose rich colors complimented her complexion as well as their simple designs added to her beauty rather than overpowered it.  But it was the tell-tale gestures that gave away her nervousness and the heavy sound of rain and thunder that only worked to compound Harry's own unease and he shifted nervously in his chair.

"You don't think…" Harry's attention was drawn to the door on the far side of the wall before he could complete his question.  His stare caused Hyde to spin about in her chair and she very nearly unseated herself in the process.

"Trouble!"  A haggard old man stood in the gaping doorway, lightning from the thunderstorm casting him in an eerie flickering light.  "It's trouble, I tell you!" he shouted.

All patrons within the Leaky Caldron turned to peer questioningly at the ancient man.  He was soaked to the skin, his robe clung to him thickly and his hair and cap hung haggardly across his face.  He was not an attractive man to begin with, but wet and worn, he made a frightening vision.   His eyes scanned the room, resting finally on Hyde as she stared in frozen wonder at his presence.

"You!" he demanded with a gnarled finger toward her in furious accusation.  "It's yer doing!"

Hyde blanched even paler than she had already been and narrowed her eyes in silent question.

"Come back, did ye?  Wot's it ye brought wit' ye, gel?  Wot trouble be trailin' ye **this** time, Hydrangea Berryknots?"  The way he said her name made it sound as if it were some wickedly villainous obscenity.

Hyde shook her head furiously.  "No trouble, no trouble at all.  I'm to go back to Hogwarts on the express just today, reclaim my old position there.  I've only been buying some things here before I return."

"No good ever come o' havin' ye' round, 'as it?  No good at all."  He limped slowly into the room, his features falling into deep shadows from the orange glow of wick and flame.  "Go back to wha'ever rock ye come out from under and stay there this time, ye hear?  We don' need yer kind of magic in these parts!"

Hydrangea looked as if she were frozen completely through by the odd man's loud accusations.  Harry peered closely to make sure she was still breathing, she was so still.  So quiet were her breaths that her chest barely moved against the cloth of her saffron-colored robe.  Her eyes were fixed on something out of Harry's line of sight and no matter how he craned his neck, all he could see was the man in the doorway.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Hyde demurred.  She rose from her seat and approached the door.  As she crossed the room, the growing crowd parted almost as if they feared accidentally brushing against her sleeve or touching her hair.  Harry noticed that none of those who had seemed to be almost in awe of her before, said anything in her defense.  As she drew closer to the doorway, the man stepped back out into the pouring rain to let her pass.  She paused on the threshold and turned back to smile kindly at Harry.  "Order me a pot of tea, will you, Harry?  I'll be back directly."  And she was gone.

He was tempted to pursue her, almost overwhelmingly so, and he might have followed through with that thought had it not been for the sea of faces that watched him from all around the room.

"Now there, Mr. Potter," a kindly faced lady said when he moved to rise from his chair.  "Leave it to Hydrangea now.  There's no one better at such matters than that one."

So, he sat back down to wait.

Harry waited at the little table for what seemed to be hours for Hyde to return as she had promised.  He wished he were anywhere else, but he stayed nonetheless.  At first, he expected Snape would walk into the pub at any second and demand to know where Hyde had got off to.  As the morning progressed, he watched for Hyde to return as well as for Snape.  Hyde's pot of tea sat untouched and the chairs unused.  The boredom finally won out over Harry's determination and he nodded off to a nightmare filled sleep.

It was a flurry of feathers and squawks that woke him.  Harry pried his eyes open to find Delwynderyn standing in the midst of the table, Hyde's cup and saucer upturned and a sealed envelope leaning against his own arm.  The giant owl cocked its head at Harry and chattered anxiously.

Harry squinted at the bird and resettled his glasses.  "What is it, boy?"  The owl chattered at him again and Harry knew it was trying to relay something to him although he had no idea what the creature was trying to say.  Harry shook his head.  "I don't understand."

"He's worried for Hyde."

Harry's head snapped up at Snape's sudden appearance.  "Why?"  Although they had been back in the wizarding world for several days, Snape had yet to return to his customary robes, donning instead black slacks and shirts similar to those he had worn to Land's End and although Harry wondered at the new habit he dared not ask.

"Because it is no more safe for her here than it is for you and I."  Snape ran the back of his fingers against the owl's feathered neck and the animal closed his eyes for a moment just before it started to twitter again in earnest.  "Let's go see what trouble Hydrangea has gotten herself into, shall we?"  

Snape had addressed Delwynderyn but Harry followed as well as he walked from the pub with the owl perched on his shoulder.  He was too worried that his potions professor would take any available opportunity to leave him behind in Diagon Alley while he went back to Hogwarts to let him out of his sight voluntarily.


	3. 3

Part three 

"Come, Delwynderyn, lead us to your mistress."  Once they were fully within Diagon Alley, Snape plucked the bird from his shoulder and, heedless of the icy rain, the great owl extended its wings and soared into the air above them.  Harry tried to follow its progression through Diagon Alley but the rain stung his eyes and he was forced to rely on following Snape's dark form.

They wound though the hurrying pedestrians who darted from shelter to shelter and turned onto a side passage.  Harry did not recognize the shops that lined the passage but he had the feeling Hagrid and the Weasleys would definitely not approve of his being there.  He kept following Snape anyway, hoping to soon locate their missing companion.  Truth be told, Harry was beginning to wish he had gone ahead and followed through with his initial desire to stay with Hyde when she walked out of the Leaky Caldron.  If he had gone ahead with his first inclination, he would not now be in the middle of some strange alleyway with one of the people he hated most in the world.

"Ah, and so we find her at last," Snape muttered, his words almost lost to the pounding of the rain against the cobblestones.  "And in not so unlikely a place, at that."

Harry looked up.  They stood at the entrance to a shop, a decidedly unfriendly looking place to be sure, and Harry felt almost compelled to argue with Snape that it seemed most definitely a place they would not expect to find Hydrangea.  The building's façade looked to have been, at one time, licked by heavy flames for the woodwork was blackened and looked decidedly charred and crumbling and the diamond paned windows sported more cracks than they did whole glass.  It was through one of the few whole panes that Harry saw an unexpected sight and was glad he had not spoken his mind to Snape a moment earlier.  

Hydrangea stood at what appeared to be a counter within the shop, she was talking to the man who stood opposite her with so much animation that she waved her arms about wildly and the proprietor was forced to step back lest he be struck.  The wide sleeves of her gown fluttered about her wrists and her hair, wild and unkempt, made a halo about her face.  Harry was struck by the notion that she looked like an angel plunged into the pits of hell.

Harry recognized the kind of shop she had found, even if he did not know it by name.  It was the same sort he had slid into on his first trip by floo powder, one that dealt with dark magic and cursed objects.  Disembodied heads and mummified hands surrounded Hyde in strange juxtaposition to her delicate beauty, ancient books of dark magic sat in stacks in front of her and toppled unheeded to the floor at her feet to raise clouds of soot and dust into swirling dance.  Most remarkable to Harry, more so even than finding Hyde in such a dark place, was that she seemed to be completely at ease in her surroundings.  He noted, with some bit of satisfaction, that Snape did not share her comfort and shifted uneasily while he darted quick glances around them.

The door was open slightly and Delwynderyn shoved against it with his beak until he was able to hop in out of the rain.  Harry followed the owl as it flew to Hyde's outstretched arm and he felt Snape close on his heels.  Hyde barely noted the huge bird, although its weight must have been great, as she continued her discussion with the graying man behind the counter.

"I know you've got it, Ewan.  There's no need to argue with me."  She tilted her head slightly.  "I sold it to you myself some dozen or more years ago."

The man blanched to see his newest customers and he sputtered, "Nay, nay, I tell you.  Not me, missy."

Snape sighed in exaggeration.  "She's not one to give up.  I suggest you fetch whatever it is that she's decided you have.  We've a train to catch."

"But…"

"Just get it now, will you?"  Hyde smiled brightly as the flustered man finally bent to unlatch a hidden compartment in a cabinet.  "There's a good fellow.  Quickly, if you please."

"I don' wan' any trouble, Miss."  The man set a bundle on the counter wrapped in dusty oilcloth.  "No trouble."  He was certain to keep one eye on Delwynderyn while he scooted back toward the wall.

"And you won't get any as long as you cooperate," Hyde's tone was honey-sweet as she turned her attention to the bundle.

"Please, won' you go now?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at the man.  He was red faced and flustered and in an awful hurry for them to leave.  It was as if he had only just realized who stood in his shop or was afraid of Delwynderyn, which it was Harry could not be sure.  He turned his eyes to Snape who looked a bit gray around the edges and then to Hyde who gently slipped the bundle into her robe with a self-satisfied smirk on her lips.

"Shall we be off then?" Hyde asked lightly.  "Harry?  Sev?"  She indicated the door.  "It was a pleasure," she called to the proprietor.

The man watched wide-eyed from the far end of the counter.  "No offense, Mrs. Snape, but I 'ope I won' be seein' you again any time soon."

"I haven't been called that in quite some time," she mused.  Hyde looked thoughtfully at Snape.  "I wonder if I couldn't get used to it again."

"As you said yourself, Hyde, you never put an end to our relationship."  Snape stared at her with piercing eyes.  "I can safely claim the same innocence."

Hyde gasped, her eyes gone wide as saucers at the implication.  Rather dumbfounded, she turned and led both Harry and Professor Snape back toward the busier area of Diagon Alley.

The trip to Hogwarts from London was pleasantly quiet.  The Hogwarts Express, which had been called into off-season duty, was empty except for the three of them and Harry chose a compartment alone.  He needed time to sort it all out before he could tell his friends everything he had learned.  He also imagined that Hyde and Snape had quite a bit to talk about before they arrived and were expected to carry on with business as usual.

What it was that Hyde had gotten from the dark magic shop, he had no idea.  Once they had made it back to the Leaky Caldron, Hyde had quickly seen to their bags and made preparations for them all to leave.  She had not mentioned her outing or the fact that she had been gone for such a long time, nor did she mention the strange old man who had burst into the Leaky Caldron just before she left.  She behaved as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred and Harry began to wonder if perhaps nothing had, at least as far as her perception of ordinary was concerned.  Harry had noticed that she was not quite as bright as she had been before Snape's admission.  

He wondered how it felt for her to discover she was still married.  She still loved Snape.  As unbelievable as it sounded, she had said those very words.  And possibly even more unbelievable, Snape appeared to love her as well.  Ron would never believe it.  Hermione might, but not Ron.  Harry was lost in imagining what his friend's reaction would be when the train wheezed to a stop.  He peered out the window and saw nothing but green countryside that stretched out for kilometers in all directions.  A few minutes later, Hyde's face appeared at the door to his compartment.

"Hi."  She slipped into the small cabin and sat down across from him.  

"Why did we stop?"  Harry was unsure whether Hyde's appearance should be reassuring or worrying.

"I'm not absolutely certain," she admitted.  "But don't worry, Sev went to check on things."

Harry stared at Hyde.  "But if it's something to do with Voldemort, won't Professor Snape be in danger all alone?"

"He's not all alone, Harry dear.  Delwynderyn's with him."  She smiled at his unconvinced expression.  "Do you really think I would send my own husband to his death without a proper companion to champion his survival?"

Harry's jaw dropped at her offhanded manner.

"Not to worry, it's probably nothing."  Hyde rearranged the hem of her robe and glanced out the window before settling her gaze once again on Harry.  "Don't look so surprised, dearie.  I know you overheard us in the hallway last night and I trust that you'll keep safe what you heard.  But there are failsafe systems in place to whisk us all off to safety should Voldemort deem to tempt fate and show himself.  If need be, we'll be magicked to Hogwarts faster than you could levitate a feather so there's nothing at all for you to worry about.  But aside from that, I was wondering if you would be willing to tell me something."

"Anything," Harry prompted.

"We'll see about that," Hyde replied with a somber grin.  "You see, it's about Sev, I mean Professor Snape."

Harry waited for Hyde to continue.  She looked somewhat nervous, like a commuter who has a presentation at work and is waiting for a bus he knows has already passed.  It was the first time he had noticed her to be anxious at all aside from the constant air of slight impatience that rested about her person.

"There are two things actually," she began "it may have been a good fifteen years since I was last at Hogwarts but I do recall how… unpopular Professor Snape always was with his students.  He never had a great affinity for relations with… well, I guess with others in general.  I was curious as to how he gets on in class these days."

Harry fidgeted with the spell book he had been pretending to study before Hyde's arrival.  He did not want to have to be the one to make the flicker of hope that had lit in her eyes die but he also had no desire to lie to her.  Hyde would soon be at Hogwarts herself and would undoubtedly bear witness to the reaction Snape garnered from the student body at large.  Harry doubted that even the Slytherins liked him.

"I see," Hyde said softly.  "Well, really, I don't know what I was expecting.  I said it before, much has changed but much has also stayed the very same."

Harry nodded because he thought she would appreciate his agreement but he was unsure what exactly he could say without sounding completely stupid.  He wished again that Hermione were with him, she would know what to say.  In the end, he decided to change the subject.  "You said there were two things?"

"Yes, I did.  You wouldn't by chance know of a great ginger colored cat by the name of Crookshanks, would you?"

Harry's head jerked up.  Their turn of conversation had taken him right out of the frying pan and thrown him directly into the fire.  In the end, Hyde assured him she had no intention of trying to reclaim the cat, Crookshanks would be far too angry with her.  She merely wondered if he was well and being cared for and she seemed quite pleased when he explained that Hermione had bought him some few years earlier.  Harry had launched into a retelling of the cat nosing out Peter Pettigrew when he was still disguised as Ron's rat Scabbers when Snape almost materialized in the compartment.

"The situation has been resolved."

Hyde tilted her head when Snape abruptly turned on his heel and departed again.  A small smile lingered in the corners of her mouth and danced in her eyes.  She rose silently to follow but stopped at the door.  "As I said before, you're safe as long as I'm nearby.  Even Voldemort knows when it's time to hold off and rally his troops.  Trouble is, he also knows when to attack.  Watch yourself, you hear?"

Harry nodded and felt the train jostle into motion.  Hyde swept along the corridor after Snape in a flourish of wavy hair and swaying robes, leaving him in silence once more.  Yes, he had a great deal to discuss with Rone and Hermione.


	4. 4

Hogwarts loomed darkly above the trio as they made their way to the broad carved steps.  The windows flickered with a hundred candles but an air of gloomy oppression presided over the entire area to the extent that Harry wondered if a few of the Dementors had not snuck back to the school.  He chanced a quick look at Snape who appeared as horrid and formidable as ever in his customary robes and pinched expression.  But it was Hydrangea, Harry observed, who seemed the most discomfited.  She had removed her cap and wrung it in her hands with such vengeance that she had nearly rent it in two.  Her anxiety was so high that Delwynderyn refused to alight on his mistress' shoulder and instead balanced on Snape's arm where he could easily keep his piercing gaze on Hyde. 

"Second thoughts, Hyde?" Snape asked coolly.

"More like hundredth thoughts," she admitted softly.

Harry watched silently as Snape reached out and placed his hand on Hyde's.  He removed the cap from her nervous fingers and molded it back into some semblance of its original shape before gently settling it on her head.  Snape's expression was still hard as granite, but there was a gentleness in the depths of his eyes Harry could not deny seeing.  

"You won't fail them." 

Hyde looked up at Snape with wide eyes as the front doors swept open and washed them in streaming lamplight.  She did look concerned but Harry also saw surprise and affection in her gaze.  At that moment, he could not have disagreed with Snape's assessment.  Hyde wouldn't fail them, even if it meant dire results for herself.

"Hydrangea!"  It was Professor McGonagall who first hurried outside to wrap Hyde in a warm embrace.  "It is so good to see you, my dear girl."

"And you too," Hyde replied with a warm and gentle smile.  "I can't tell you how much I've missed our afternoon teas these many years past."  She seemed to melt into the hug for a moment before righting herself to face Dumbledore.  Hyde almost appeared to shrink back from the headmaster but steeled herself to the task of greeting him.

"Dear Hyde," Dumbledore said in a gentle rumble.  "How Hogwarts has missed you."

A tremulous smile lit in her eyes and lips and Harry was startled to see her throw her arms around Dumbledore in an exuberant embrace.  "Oh, Professor Dumbledore.  I was so foolish and in so many ways…" she muttered into his beard as she pressed her face into his shoulder.

He patted her back soothingly.  "We all were, child.  What is important is that you have come back to us now.  Tell me, did you have an interesting trip?"

Hyde chuckled and pulled back.  She tossed a glance at Snape.  "Diagon Alley was rather uneventful but I can't say the same for the train ride.  But about that, Sev can tell you more that I am able.  After all, he was the one who handled things while I kept Harry company."

"It was nothing I could not handle," Snape said simply when Dumbledore and McGonagall both leveled their attention on him.  "Now if you don't mind, I will retire to my chambers." Returning Delwynderyn to Hyde's willing arm, he swept up the last of the stairs and into the castle.

"Good night, husband," Hyde called with an unnamed spark in her eye.

Snape stopped short in the foyer at the foot of the stairwell, his robes swaying gently against his ankles with the abruptness of his halt, and half turned to clearly view Hyde through the open doorway.  "Good night… Mrs. Snape."  His face easily fell back into the cold and impenetrable mask Harry was accustomed to seeing.

Hyde's lips tweaked into a small smile and she laughed out loud.  Snape bowed his head to her before he turned back to the stairway.

"What's this?" McGonagall looked sharply at Hyde as she watched Snape disappear from view.

"I never ended the marriage," Hyde answered off-handedly.  "I've recently discovered that Sev didn't either.  We are, by all rights, still wed."

McGonagall fanned herself with her hand.  "This will cause quite a stir with the Ministry."

Hyde grinned.  "Some things just never change do they?  They didn't approve fifteen years ago, why should they approve now?  But I thought with all the upheaval there wasn't much of a Ministry any more."

"Too true, Hyde.  Too true.  But let us discuss such matters after dinner."  Dumbledore caught Hyde's elbow.  "Come, let me show you to your chambers although, under the circumstances, you may of course join your husband…"

"Let's let poor Sev have a chance to absorb it all, why don't we?  I can't say that I'm handling any of this too well myself."  Hyde allowed herself to be led into the building and through the maze of corridors until they arrived at the chambers she would occupy at least on a temporary basis.  

The house elves had certainly been busy.  Hyde's trunk sat against one wall, a sleeping gown already spread out on the foot of the bed.  A fire burned brightly from the hearth and chased the worst of the chill from the room and a pot of tea had been set on a small round table near the bed.  Delwynderyn fluttered across the space to land gingerly on the back of a chair.  Hyde trailed her hand across the carved wood of the mantle and fingered the heavy brocade curtains and cast a happy eye around the room.  

"I had almost forgotten how much I loved it here."

"Hogwarts will always welcome you, Hyde."  Dumbledore grinned down at Harry.  "And what about you, Harry?  How was your trip?  I'm pleased to see that both you and Professor Snape appear to have survived one another's company none the worse for wear."

"Like Hyde said, it was uneventful."

Dumbledore held his gaze for a long moment before he allowed his eyes to sweep to the doorway.  "Hyde has a great penchant for understatement, Harry," he chuckled.  "It is a character flaw left over from her days as a student here.  I believe Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are most anxious to see you.  They have been asking when you would return for these last few days."

Harry nodded quickly, suddenly very anxious to see them as well.  "Good bye," he said to all gathered in Hyde's chamber.  "I'll be seeing you at Defense against the Dark Arts tomorrow, Hyde.  I mean, Professor Berryknots… er, Mrs. Professor Snape… What are we to call you?"

Hyde laughed again.  "As I recall, I went by Professor Berryknots before, even after my marriage to Severus.  I don't see why I should change it now."   She smiled warmly at him.  "I shall look forward to seeing you then."

Harry started to leave when a thought stopped his feet.  "Hyde?  I mean, Professor Berryknots."

"Yes, Harry?"  Hyde tilted her head questioningly, quite like Delwynderyn was prone to do when he was curious about something.

"It's about you and Professor Snape," he began.

"Mr. Potter."  Professor McGonagall started to hush him when Hyde laid a hand on her arm.

"It's quite alright, Minerva.  Let Harry ask his question."

"It's just that you seem so different from one another."  Harry searched his mind for the right words.  "You're so cheery and pleasant and Professor Snape is so…"

Hyde ducked her head a bit.  "Utterly unagreeable and unpleasant?"

"Yes," Harry agreed in a rush of relief.

"When you're young, things seem to be black and white, good or bad, pleasant or horrid.  Once you grow up, you realize that nothing is ever as it seems at first glance.  Severus and I are quite similar in a great many ways you would never begin to imagine."  Hyde patted him gently on the shoulder.  "Now, go on and see those friends of yours.  I'm sure their worried to see how you survived your mission.  I'll see you at dinner, I'm sure."

Harry bid Hyde, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall farewell and went off in search of Ron and Hermione.  He heard Herione before he saw her familiar frizzy head.

"Harry!  Harry!"

Followed closely by Ron, Hermione hurried down the stairs in such a rush that she nearly pushed Luna Lovegood right over the banister.  Ron caught Luna's arm before she could plunge to the floor of the foyer half a floor below them.

"Oh, Luna!"  Hermione's hands flew to her face and she looked as if she couldn't decide whether to fall on Luna with apologies or continue on her quest to reach Harry.  Harry helped her decide by climbing the stairs to meet them.

Luna's dreamy gaze passed over Hermione's concerned face and fell to rest on Harry.  Ron let go of her when she pulled away.

"Hi, Luna," Harry said as he reached the landing.  

She smiled at him in the half-dazed manner that only she and Professor Trelawney could manage.  "Harry, you're back," she replied.

"Only just," he told her.  "Were you on your way to dinner?  Hermione, Ron and I were going to the dining hall to talk."

"We were?" Ron asked with a highly confused look in his eyes.

"Of course we were," Hermione insisted, she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow for good measure.  "I'm so sorry to have nearly run you down, Luna.  I was just so pleased to see Harry again."

"It's alright," Luna assured her.  "I'm used to being invisible."

Hermione's jaw dropped open and she looked about to argue that she had only been in a hurry to get to Harry when she saw a small commotion at the doorway.  She tugged on Harry's sleeve so that he would turn about to face the same direction.  "What are they doing here?"

Standing just within the door and milling about like a group of old folks at the grocers were Tonks, Lupin, Mrs. Weasley and Mad-Eye Moody.  Tonks' hair was a vivid acid green and stood out on end in all directions and threatened to poke out Moody's one good eye if he should chance to stand too close.  She was first to spot the trio of friends on the stairs and smiled brightly while she wildly waved a leaflet at them.  "Harry!  Hermione!  Ron!  Hey, you lot."

Mrs. Weasley waggled her fingers at them while Moody settled his magical eye and Lupin shifted from foot to foot looking decidedly uncomfortable and horridly fatigued.

Harry, Ron and Hermione descended to the main floor and were enveloped in hugs by Mrs. Weasley.   "Mum?  What are you doing here?  You're not supposed to be here during the year," Ron insisted as he extracted himself from his mother's embrace and eyed the rest of the group.  "This isn't Order business, is it?"

"Well, if it is, then it isn't any of your business, is it?"  Mrs. Weasley cut her eyes at her youngest son meaningfully.

"Actually, we're here to see your new defense against the dark arts master," Lupin explained, even shabbier and grayer than Harry remembered him to be.

"You mean, our defense against the dark arts _mistress_," Harry corrected.  "Hyde's in her chambers now but she said she'd be at dinner."

"I can't believe it," Tonks said breathlessly.  "You really got Hydrangea Berryknots to come back?"

"I don't know that it was me, or even Professor Snape who did it, but she is here.  I think it was more Dumbledore and Snape together who convinced her."  Harry looked around at the group of familiar faces.  "She…"

"Yes?"  Lupin granted Harry his full albeit sickly attention.

"There's a lot going on," Harry finally said.  He had no idea how to broach the subject of the entire Hyde-Snape situation.  He was not even sure he had the right to broach it.  He felt he owed Hyde some privacy at the very least, she had been nothing but kind to him from the very start.  He felt the heated gazes of his friends as they bore into his back, those looks of the adults in front of him as well.

"Yes, well, there always was a lot going on where Severus and Hyde were concerned."  Lupin's gaze flitted away from Harry sympathetically.  "She'll do you well as teacher though.  Hogwarts never had a better defender against the dark arts."

Harry nodded.  "That's what Snape said."

"Snape said something nice about someone?" Ron asked aghast.  "I don't want to see this one.  Probably has three heads and warts all over."

Harry shook his head.  "It's not like that," he answered.  "She rather reminded me of Hermione."

Hermione looked as if she would have liked to take offence at that but was sidetracked by a new commotion further along the foyer.  Harry was able to just make out the waves of Hyde's hair and color of her robes through the press of students headed toward dinner.  As he watched her, another movement up along the stairwell caught his notice as well.  Apparently Snape was also finished resting before dinner because he was descending to the foyer just as Hyde was making her way up the hall.  

Hyde's attention was focused solely on Snape and she never so much as noted the appearance of the Order.  Her head was tilted up and her eyes locked on the dark shape that drew ever closer to her.  She seemed to also have forgotten about the halls teeming with students because as she reached Snape's side at the foot of the stairs, she lay one hand on his cheek and kissed him deeply.

Hermione stood frozen to the spot with eyes wide as saucers and Ron looked as if he had just swallowed a bucket full of slugs.  Harry thought Hyde had probably been looking to kiss Snape ever since they had left Diagon Alley.  Tonks and Lupin simply waited for the kiss to end while Moody looked on impatiently.  Mrs. Weasley smiled indulgently.

"Well, you always knew how to make an entrance, Hyde," Tonks said once Hyde had pulled back from an astonished Snape.  

"Hydrangea!" Snape ground out harshly.  "I'd thank you to control yourself in the presence of students."  He glowered up at a group of Slytherins who stood on the landing above, immobile.

Hyde was unfazed by Snape's reaction.  She flashed him a brilliant smile before she turned to face those members of the Order who had gathered at Hogwarts.  Over her shoulder she murmured, "Only in the presence of students, Sev?"  She laughed at his sputtering and grinned at those who stood in front of her.  "Oh my, what a gang we have.  Nymphadora!  It's so good to see you!"

Tonks glowered at her a second at the use of her first name but all was forgiven quickly enough when Hyde squeezed her hands tightly in her own and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.  "First you call me Nymphadora and then you kiss me with the same lips you kissed Severus with…"  She let out an exasperated sigh but smiled cheerfully.

"You would begrudge me a kiss for my husband?"

A herd of Hippogriffs could have stormed through the school and no one would have noticed, all eyes were locked onto Hyde and Snape in utter shock.  The normally raucous dinnertime crowd had been reduced to a silent mass at Hyde's greeting for Snape and her mention of their relationship resounded through the corridors clearly.  Hyde never so much as noted their reactions although Snape's pasty complexion turned red either with irritation or anger.

"Husband?" Tonks queried.  "Surely, former husband would be more correct."  She glanced at Lupin who merely shrugged.

"Only if the marriage had ever been dissolved in the first place."

Tonks jerked her gaze back to Hyde.  "You mean to say…"

"Neither Sev nor I ever bothered to dissolve the union so it still exists."

Lupin coughed spasmodically and Mrs. Weasley clapped him on the back.  Hyde crossed the distance between them and reached out to take Lupin's arm, she pinned him with a worried gaze.

"Are you quite all right, Remus?  You do look a bit peaked."  She released her grip from his arm, placed the back of her hand against his pallid cheek and looked closely at his eyes.  "Really, you needn't have come all this way just to see me.  A simple letter would have sufficed.  Delwynderyn does so enjoy your company and I've missed your wonderful prose."

"Don't worry about me, Hyde."

"No, don't," Snape agreed, having recovered from his initial surprise.  "Lupin is quite adequately cared for."

"Shush now," Hyde told her husband and placed her free hand on his arm.  "There was never any love loss between the lot of you but we've all grown up now and it's time to put the past behind us where it belongs."

"Brave words from a woman who picks and chooses which parts of her past she wishes to ignore and which she wishes to acknowledge," Snape commented softly.

"Yes, they are," Hyde agreed.


	5. 5

Author's note:  I generally refrain from these things…  Anyway, this is rather short, in a manner of speaking, but the next part will actually be more than just spinning wheels and chatty folks.  I give my word of honor although I can't promise that it will be up soon, I will promise that it'll be worth the wait.

"Really though, Sev, I'm beginning to think we should take out an ad in the _Daily Prophet_ announcing that we're still wed.  It would save a great deal of explaining on my part," Hyde commented as the hallway slowly started back into motion around them.  "Perhaps we could even get a few 'reuniting the union of holy matrimony' gifts."

"I'm so confused," Ron lamented dourly only to be shot a silencing look from Mrs. Weasley.

"Now's not the time, Ron," Hermione hissed in a voice that resounded off the walls regardless of its lowered volume.

Hyde turned to the three of them.  "Well, Harry, may I safely assume that these are the friends you told me about when we were in Diagon Alley?"

He smiled, remembering how he had launched into detail about both Ron and Hermione during their stay above the Leaky Caldron.  "Yes, that's right.  Ron and Hermione.  We were heading to dinner."

Hermione and Ron both were uncharacteristically quiet and Hyde smiled at them kindly.  "It is truly a pleasure to meet you and I trust it will be an even greater pleasure to have you in my class."  She turned around after gracing them with a cheerful smile and linked arms with Lupin and Snape to guide them both down the long corridor toward the dining hall.  For all appearances, she looked like the guest of honor at a welcome home party.  

Tonks and Mrs. Weasley smiled and chatted with the crimson robed Hyde while Lupin listened on pleasantly and Moody occasionally added a tidbit or two to the conversation.  Even Snape looked a little less morose than usual, although Harry admitted silently it was just a fraction of an improvement.  Harry continued to listen and noted that their conversation ranged from the Weasley children to advancements in inter-species relations to the current Quidditch standings but never once did the subject of Voldemort or the Deatheaters rear their heads.  

"So she's to be the new defense against the dark arts professor?" Ron asked in a strained whisper.

Harry nodded and waited for more.  If Ron had something top say, he would spit it out sooner rather than later.  It was a trait that had gotten him into hot water with Hermione more times than Harry could even venture to count.

"If you ask me, she doesn't look like she would know all that much about the dark arts much less how to go about protecting us from it," Ron continued.  "She looks like she just stepped out of one of the fashion books Ginny and my mum look at."

Hermione glared at him hotly.  "Well, no one did ask you.  You think she's ill suited just because she's pretty!" she hissed angrily.  She folded her arms across her chest and her eyes grew hard and cold.  "Just because she's pleasant to look at doesn't mean she doesn't mean she doesn't know anything, Ronald Weasley."

"Only too true, my dear," Hyde herself agreed and she glanced back at them with a mischievous glint in her eye.  "After all, if appearances worked inversely to intelligence, well, my dearest Sev would have bested me for the dark arts defense position years ago."  She flashed Snape a playful grin and squeezed his arm affectionately to soften the jibe.  "As it is, I'm afraid you'll have to settle with seeing my face at Defense Against the Dark Arts and Professor Snape's at Potions."

Tonks giggled although she tried to hide it behind her hand.  Snape looked torn between irritation and affection and settled for glaring at Hyde.  Ron's face blushed almost as red as his hair and Mrs. Weasley shot him a dark look at his impertinence but Hyde stopped any censure she might have added.

"Don't worry, Molly.  If thoughts of that nature are the worst I'll endure, my life will be quite pleasant indeed."  She looked back again at the students who trailed her.  "Don't be too embarrassed, lovie.  I assure you, you aren't the first to voice such an opinion."

Harry thought he heard Mrs. Weasley mutter something about Ron being taught better but the noise that drifted from the dining hall made it difficult to be sure.

Hyde stopped short of entering the vast dining room.  "These are dark times, very dark times," she said in a hushed voice.

Snape shot her an unreadable look.  "Perhaps it would be best if you were to take your meal in your chambers."

His tone had been as cold as marble but Harry saw concern in the way he gently patted Hyde's hand.  Actually, all those who gathered around her looked worried, very much a different response than the cheerily chatty attitudes of moments before.

"No," Hyde assured him.  "All will be quite well.  I'm only weary is all."

"Perhaps Severus is right, Hydrangea.  There is no need for you to do this just now.  Some rest would do you good."

Hyde grinned at Lupin for his obvious concern.  "Between you and Sev it's a wonder I ever got anything done before.  I'm surprised you two haven't concocted a spell that would wrap me in cotton and keep me safe from all harm.  I thank you for your worrying over me, both of you, but I'm fine."

Lupin shook his head very slowly, his gray hair swishing from side to side.  "You've said that before," he drew out carefully "and it was most certainly not the case."

Hagrid chose that precise moment to appear and the heavy curtain of concern that clouded the corridor was swept aside by his entrance.  Lupin simply shook his head again.

"Hyde!"  Hagrid pulled her from Lupin and Snape and gave her a bone-crushing hug.  "I'd heard you'd be comin' back."

"Hello, Hagrid."  His beard muffled Hyde's words and she seemed content to remain in the nest of his massive arms.  "It's good to see you again.  How have you been?"

Harry watched as Hagrid and Hyde moved through the huge doors of the dining hall followed closely by the rest of the Order who had shown up so unexpectedly.  Snape looked none too happy that Hyde had insisted on making an appearance at dinner, nor did the others for that matter.  The group of them swept past the long tables and up onto the platform at the front of the room where chairs appeared for them as if out of thin air.  He, Hermione and Ron found their own places at the Gryffindor table but he kept Hyde in sight as he sat down.

From all around the room, a loud chatter began as students from all the houses eyed the newcomers at the head table.  Of course, Lupin and Moody were recognized by at least most of them and certain Gryffindors knew Mrs. Weasley from association with her children but Tonks and Hyde were strangers to all.  The questions and suppositions flew around the tables quicker than a whole flock of flying keys.

"What now, a howler wasn't good enough?" Seamus asked Ron teasingly.  "Your mum had to come herself this time?"

Before Ron could do much more than grimace, Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair.  A hush spread throughout the room at his movement and all eyes were focused on the front of the room, if not directly at him.  "Good evening," he began.  "Before we commence with our meal, I would like to take the time to introduce to you the newest addition to Hogwarts."  He turned slightly to nod toward Hyde who had taken up a spot next to Snape.  "We are most honored to have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor with us.  I would first thank Sir Nicholas for his assistance these several weeks."  He inclined his head to the ghost in question and a resounding applause filled the hall.  Once the racket had died away, Dumbledore continued, "It is my great honor and my privilege to introduce to you Professor Hydrangea Berryknots Snape.  I am certain she will serve us as well now as she did so many years ago."

Hyde smiled and tossed up a little wave.  Her introduction was met with awed whispers and Harry wondered if it was due to her name or her appearance.  She was certainly far prettier than any of the previous instructors in that particular course although Gilderoy Lockhart might have given her a run for her money in the smile department if he had not been locked away in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries right along with Neville's parents.  Regardless, Harry imagined it was her name that caused the gentle commotion.  He saw the group of Slytherins who had witnessed Hyde kiss Snape nodding knowingly at their friends as if they had known all along and had not been shocked into immobile speechlessness themselves just a little while before.  Malfoy, who had not been present in the stairwell, looked absolutely murderous as both Doyle and Crabbe leaned over to whisper something to him.

Dumbledore raised his hands to quiet the room.  "I am sure you will benefit a great deal from Professor Berryknots' class as she has a good amount of knowledge to impart to you.  Times such as these call for all of our diligence and I urge you to continue to do only your best."

Ron leaned closer to Harry.  "Good thing Fred and George aren't here or he couldn't say that bit about continuing to do our best."  Harry tried to hide his chuckle but Hermione saw him anyway and glared heatedly at him until he stopped.

"Due to the rushed nature of her journey here, I will refrain from asking Professor Berryknots to speak and will let her greet you all later and at her leisure."  Dumbledore paused and smiled.  "Let the feast begin."

Throughout the meal, Harry kept his attention focused on Hyde.  She smiled and seemed to get along well with all those around her.  Professor Trelawney had even descended for dinner and Harry watched curiously as she and Hyde spoke with one another.  Trelawney looked highly concerned and Hyde smiled gently at her and rested her hand on Trelawney's arm for a moment before the divinationist moved back to her seat.  He also watched Snape.  Every time someone slid up next to Hyde's chair, they became the focus of Snape's full attention.  He also kept his ears on the conversations around him.

"Dumbledore didn't just say Snape, did he?"

"Maybe she's a distant cousin or something."

"She's gotta be.  I mean, why would someone who looks like her marry someone like who looks like Snape?"

Harry thought about saying something but found he was unwilling to share how he had come across the information, at least until he could get Ron and Hermione alone.yH


	6. 6

**part six**

Once dinner was complete, the students were loathe to leave the hall.  No one seemed in any hurry to exit the room, even the professors and other staff, and the dinner hour was drawn out much longer than was usual.  At last, Hermione stood up in her no-nonsense way and headed to the table at the front of the room where the staff and those few members of the Order of the Phoenix were seated.  Harry and Ron scrambled after her, not wanting to rely on their friend's concept of what was interesting and not when it came time for her to retell what had gone on beyond their immediate range of hearing.  All eyes followed her from around the hall as she swept up the aisle and stopped just in front of Tonks, Mrs. Weasley and Hyde who were huddled, their heads together and deep in conversation.

Hyde straightened when she noticed the girl approach.  "Hermione, how pleasant to see you again."  She smiled broadly at the teen and winked.  "Sev here informs me that you are quite possibly the best student he has ever chanced to have in his class."  She patted Snape's arm but kept her eyes focused on Harry and his friends.

Snape sputtered coldly while Hermione blushed.  "Hydrangea, I said nothing of the…"

Hyde cast a sidelong glance at Snape and grinned.  "Of curse you did.  You said, and I quote, Miss Granger would undoubtedly reach the same levels of proficiency that I did while I was a student here at Hogwarts.  Considering the fact that I know I saw my name still on the plaque for the potions and spell casting award in the great hall, I would have to say that your comment was high praise indeed."  She leaned slightly toward Snape until her arm was pressed against his.  "Anyone who could compete with me in spell casting and potions would have to be your best student," she said the last with another wink at Hermione.

"First prefect and now this.  There'll be no stopping her," Ron muttered with a nod to Hermione who was positively beaming with Hyde's praise.  "And I thought Percy was difficult to deal with when he made Head Boy."  Ron quickly ducked his head after mentioning his brother's name when he caught a glimpse of his mother's scowl.

Harry grinned and seemed to nod in agreement although he knew he should not have.  Hyde had a way of making everyone around her happy and content regardless of the situation.  That ability had first come to light with her dealings with Snape but she had even managed to enchant Professor Trelawney and McGonagall.  Of course, he could not forget those witches and wizards in Diagon Alley who had been far from enchanted, those few who had been downright vile to her.  Harry supposed that her charm was not as all encompassing as he had originally thought. But that realization led him back to the disturbing notion that Snape really and truly loved Hyde and he was still uncertain how to deal with that notion.

Hermione managed to suppress her glow enough to speak.  "Mrs… Snape?" Hermione stumbled over the name as she tried to come to some mental agreement before uttering it.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"  Hyde quickly smothered her amusement and schooled her features into an expression of blank pleasantness.

"Harry was telling Ron and me about your trip back to Hogwarts," Hermione began.  "I was wondering if you might tell us about your experience here before.  I've come across your name in several of the books I've read."

Hyde pulled her head back and tilted her chin toward Snape.  "Now of all the questions I had imagined you might pose, that was certainly not one of them."

"Actually," Hermione hedged, dropping her gaze to the cup of tea set before Hyde, "I was rather wondering what it was that made you leave the first time.  I've done a bit of research and I noticed that your departure followed the disappearance of Voldemort.  I was just wondering…"  In her haste to clarify her question and her refusal to lift her attention from the teacup, Hermione missed the change in Hyde's appearance.

"That will be quite enough, Miss Granger," Snape's voice was as chill as a blizzard's gust.

"I…"  Hermione raised her eyes from the tabletop to Hyde's face and stopped speaking.  "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"  From the stricken look on Hermione's face, Harry thought she might burst into tears at any second.

Hyde's pasty complexion had not improved but she did at last manage a strangled gasp.  She choked and stuttered on the breath but was able to control the spasm a moment later.  With one hand set against Snape's arm and the other pressed to her breast, she shook her head.  "Don't apologize, dearie.  It's all right, you just took me by surprise is all.  But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you.  When Voldemort vanished, he left in his wake a great deal of trouble and unrest, some of which has never been fully dealt with.  You've only managed to stumble upon one small part of that unresolved trouble."  Hyde's lips quirked into a small sad smile.  "Perhaps one day I'll be ready to answer your question.  Until then I fear you'll need to be patient."

Hermione stumbled back from the dais, her eyes still radiating discomfort at the situation she had unwittingly created.  Harry reached out and caught her elbow before she could trip over him of flee from the room in utter embarrassment.  All any of them needed was something the Slytherins could use against them and making a bad impression with Snape's wife was sure to rank high on their list.

"We'll be seeing you tomorrow in class then, Hyde?" Harry asked in an attempt to steer both the conversation and Snape's murderous look away from Hermione.  He had to tighten his hold on her arm when his friend tried to slip away.

"I look forward to it," Hyde assured him.  "I also look forward to having the pleasure of having you in my class, Miss Granger.  I'm certain we'll get along famously well."

As Harry turned to head with Hermione and Ron back to the Gryffindor common room, he was relieved to see that Hyde had fully returned to her normal charming self.  She waved and winked at him as he and his friends departed.

Ron managed to remain silent until they stood in front of the portrait of the fat lady in the pink gown.  Before she could ask for their password, he turned to Hermione and started laughing.  "Talk about sticking your foot in your mouth.  You've lost your edge in Defense Against the Dark Arts, that's for sure."

Hermione just looked ill.  She shifted uneasily from foot to foot and refused to look either Ron or Harry in the eye.

Harry took pity on his friend and aimed a sharp kick in Ron's direction.  "It's not so bad as that, Hermione.  Really.  Hyde's not like that.  She won't hold it against you."  He tried to find some way to reassure her but he could tell it was not doing any good.  She looked no more relieved than she had in the dining hall.

The fat lady sniffed loudly, obviously irritated at the lack of attention the three teens were paying her.  In a regal voice, she attempted to gain their undivided attention.  "Password."  Her voice carried through the corridor but it did little to achieve her goal.

Hermione glanced up at the portrait and muttered, "Flying Hippogriffs."

With a disgusted huff, the portrait swung open to reveal the doorway and Hermione scrambled through before Harry and Ron could move forward.  By the time they reached the common room, all that was visible of Hermione was the hem of her robe as she dashed up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

"Good one, Ron," Harry muttered darkly.

"What did I say?"  Ron shrugged and crossed the room to join Seamus and Neville who were exploring the contents of a care package sent by Seamus' great-aunt Tyrie.

Harry watched and hid his amusement as a flock of Cornish pixies burst from the package only to stop in mid air.  It took him a moment to realize the pixies were nothing more than bits of blue paper folded to resemble pixies, Cornish origami.  It took poor Neville longer for the reality of the situation to sink in and he was half way to the stairs by the time Seamus called him back.

"It's a'right, Neville.  Just a prank.  Great-aunt Tyrie loves a good trick."  He was still laughing off the fright of the pixie invasion as Neville hesitantly rejoined their group.  "A real practical joker, she is.  But she always sends sweets too, so I figure I can handle the pranks she pulls."  He glanced up at Harry who still stood between the entrance and the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory.  "Want some, Harry?"

"No, thanks.  Think I'll turn in for the night.  I'll have a lot to do tomorrow to make up for last week."

Neville smiled brightly.  "At least you won't have potions to make up."

"Yeah," Harry agreed.  "See you tomorrow."  He turned his feet to the stairs that would lead him to the boy's dormitory and his bed.  Sleep in a stable bed that did not sit atop a busy pub would be a lovely change.  

He allowed his thoughts to linger on his expectations for the next day as he prepared himself for sleep.  He wondered what Hyde would be like as a teacher, how Snape would be affected by her presence… He also wondered how much make-up work McGonagall would have for him once he returned to her class.

The next morning, transfiguration proved to be better than he had feared and Harry was relieved when they were all released for their next class and he had only a minimal amount of work to make up.  With Hermione's assurance that she would help him with the spells McGonagall had assigned him, they caught up with Ron in the hallway and hurried through the winding corridors toward Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Hyde's arrival had made enough of an impact on the students that everyone arrived at the room early, which left them time to mill about and find their seats at leisure.  When Harry slipped into a desk, Hyde was nowhere to be seen.  Hermione was less anxious for another meeting with the new instructor and she kept her head ducked and her eyes locked on the inkbottle on her desk.

The silence of the classroom was disturbed by the sound of fluttering wings as Delwynderyn sailed in through the open window overlooking the courtyard.  The giant owl flapped his wings a few times before he landed on the back of a chair to Harry's right.  After making a show of readjusting his feathers, Delwynderyn rotated his head to pierce Harry with a sharp glare and chattered noisily.

"What is it, boy?" Harry murmured.  "Something wrong?  Or are you just worried about Hyde again?"

"He worries about everything, constantly."

Harry's head snapped up at the sound of Hyde's voice.  She stood at the head of the classroom, her scarlet gown swapped for one that shimmered the same pale blue as moonlight and seemed to float around her wrists and ankles.  She smiled at the students who stared and gaped before she clucked softly to Delwynderyn.  The owl shivered and hopped the short distance to her desk and then to a tall ladder back chair set nearby.

"So," Hyde said with a chuckle "at least I have your undivided attention.  Now let's see where the good Sir Nicholas has left off."  She grinned and ruffled through a sheaf of papers that had been loosely stacked on one corner of the desk.

Harry saw an arm shoot into the air somewhere to his left and the movement drew Hyde's attention as she lifted her gaze from the papers.  "Yes?"

Seamus shifted uneasily in his chair.  "We were wonderin'.  What do we call you?"

"Ah, yes.  First things first, I suppose.  Well, since I began teaching before I married and since you already have a Professor Snape, I'm generally called Professor Berryknots."

"Professor Berryknots?"

Hyde looked slightly frazzled at the flurry of movement caused by a good dozen hands darting up into the air.  "Why don't we go about it this way?  On this, our first day of class together, I'll answer your questions and you can answer mine.  That way we'll be much more at ease with one another and I dare say you'll be more willing to sit through my lectures."

Her suggestion was met with agreement from all corners of the room and Harry spent the rest of the class listening to some of the most ridiculous questions he had ever heard.  He was unsure whether Hermione's silence was a blessing or burden however.  He was certain that it was a worry regardless.  After a good half hour of answering questions, Hyde had turned to face Hermione's desk and drew her into the conversation that was going on about the practical uses of potions among Muggles and the possible repercussions associated with the idea.  Hyde even managed to draw Neville into the discussion and Harry could not recall the last time the boy had ever spoken during class except when forced.

Once class was dismissed, they left Hyde and made their way to luncheon.  Hermione was in much her usual spirits and was busy singing the praises of Professor Berryknots.  Harry was glad she had recovered from her embarrassment of the evening before and he figured that as long as the Slytherins left them alone, the day might end up being quite perfect.  Of course, he knew better than to hope for anything like that when Malfoy was anywhere in the vicinity.

"Weasley, Granger, and Potter…"

The chill tone sunk Harry's spirits and he loathed the idea that he would soon be turning around to be face to face with Draco Malfoy.  He had been lucky enough to not have been in direct contact with the vile boy since they had returned from summer holiday and he had rather hoped to continue that way throughout the year.

"Busy heckling the new professor?"

Harry spun around.  "That's more your style isn't it, Malfoy."

"Why would I do that?  After all, you heard Dumbledore introduce her last night.  She's a Snape."  Draco stared hard at the three of them, waiting for someone to make a move.

"She's not just any Snape, is she?" Hermione harrumphed, "She's your beloved Professor Snape's wife.  I wonder that he never mentioned to you that he was married.  After all, I thought you Slytherins were such a close knit group, a real family atmosphere…"

Draco's expression grew murderous and he would have lashed out, either physically or verbally, had both Professor Snape and Hyde not interrupted him.  Harry wondered how coincidental their arrival was when Hyde shot Snape a curious look and nudged him toward the wayward Slytherin.

"Come, Draco," Snape sneered.  "I'm certain you have better things to occupy your time with that these three."  He latched onto Malfoy's arm and propelled him down the corridor.

Harry, Hermione and Ron watched in awed silence as Draco slunk into the dining hall and both Snape and Hyde strode through the massive doors as well.  Blinking furiously to assure herself it had not been her imagination, Hermione stammered, "Well, well that was interesting."

Harry raised his eyebrows in agreement and followed Hermione as she slipped through the doors.  Ron, who had still not spoken a word, was hot on his heels.

**~O:O:O~**

It was half way into the year before anything out of the ordinary occurred.  Harry had discovered, to his delight as well as the pleasure as the rest of the school, that Hyde was every bit as wonderful an instructor as Snape had professed her to be.  Her classes were never missed and he had noticed more than a few of his fellow classmates studying more than was actually required for the course.  His other classes were progressing as smoothly as could be expected and he was somewhat pleased, albeit strangely so, to see Snape return to almost his old self.  There was still an odd something in his eyes at times, but mostly he was just as icy and irritating and hateful as ever.  Harry often found himself wondering whether Hyde had decided to move her possessions into Snape's chambers, rather than keep her own separate lodgings.  If she had, perhaps that had something to do with the strange light that occasionally lit in Snape's expression.

Halloween passed without incident and the Christmas holidays neared.  Harry had been invited to spend the holiday with Ron's family and he had jumped at the opportunity to enjoy a Christmas among people who actually seemed to genuinely like him.  Hermione had also been invited and had agreed to join them for the week between Christmas and their return to school.  Harry and Ron packed and were waiting in the dining hall with everyone else for Hagrid to announce the departure of the carriages when they glanced up and saw Hyde hurry past the open door. 

"Wonder what's got her excited," Ron said as he returned his attention to the game of Wizard's Chess he was winning.  

Harry found his attention waning with Hyde's odd behavior.  "Let's go and see," he suggested.  "You were going to win anyway."  He rose from the bench and headed to the door with Ron following close behind him.

Once in the hallway, they turned and followed the direction Hyde had hurried in.  Realistically, they had no way of tracking her and Harry longed for the enchanted map.  Hyde had been her normal pleasant self in class but as the holiday drew near, he had seen her grow more and more tense.  He had been very much surprised by Dumbledore's agreement that he spend Christmas with the Weasleys.  He had almost been sure that Hyde's tension was directly related to Voldemort and would signify an increase in the evil wizard's activity and therefore a mandatory decrease in his own.

"This is crazy, you know," Ron said after a few minutes.  "We'll never catch up with her and we'll miss the carriages to the train.  Come on, you can just ask her when we come back."

Harry begrudgingly admitted that his friend was correct and he started to turn on his heel when he heard the unmistakable sound of Delwynderyn's chattering somewhere in a corridor to their right.  With a glance toward Ron, Harry ducked into the hallway.  Far along the wall, in a niche Harry could not remember having seen before, a door stood ajar.  It was from that room that Delwynderyn's chattering had drifted.

Cautious, so that they would draw no notice, Ron and Harry crept closer to the opened door and peered in through the space between the jamb and the door itself.  The room beyond was dim and empty.  It reminded Harry a great deal of the room where he had found the mirror his first year.  Bare and chill, the only things Harry could discern were Delwynderyn, Hyde, Snape and a great basin set atop an old wooden table.  The only illumination came from the basin, a thin watery light that ebbed and flowed like the memories he had seen in the ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Pensieve in both Snape and Dumbledore's offices.  It rather looked like the Pensieves he had seen, except the bowl was much larger and there were some kind of symbols etched onto the outside of it.

"This is foolishness, Hydrangea."  Snape sounded peevish in the quiet room.

"It's only foolishness if it doesn't work," she chided softly.  

"If you draw his notice to your presence here, there is no guarantee that you will be able to best him in even a small matter such as this."  Snape paced a bit before returning to Hydrangea's side.  "As it is, he still believes you to be in hiding elsewhere."

"Yes, yes," Hyde murmured with a wave of her hand.  "Don't you think I realize how precarious all of our positions are?  My dearest Sev, Voldemort wants nothing less than your head served to him upon a silver platter.  Do you truly think I would let that happen while I was right here at Hogwarts with you?  And what of Harry and Neville?  I couldn't sleep at night if I thought I was doing anything less than giving their protection my full attention.  They are still much too young to have to deal with these matters on their own."

"And what of your own welfare, Hydrangea?  What happens to us if you allow a foolish slip and draw the notice of Voldemort down upon your head?"  Snape eyed her sternly and Harry half expected him to pull her to his side and away from whatever sloshed wildly in the bowl.  Snape's voice was soft and it had lost a good deal of the chilliness Harry was so used to, he sounded quite worried.

"Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he called for me to return," Hyde insisted as she stepped closer to the bowl.  "And even you must admit that I have lost little of the knowledge I once had, if any."

Snape did reach out for Hyde and pulled her closer to him, away from the bowl that brimmed with swirling light.  "And this would have been difficult for you fifteen years ago as well.  It is not your ability I am wary of, Hydrangea, it is your distinct lack of self preservation."

"There's no time for that now.  The children will be gone within the hour, it is their safety that is of the utmost concern."

"The children should have been detained if their departure is the cause of such ruckus and disregard of basic needs," Snape ground out heatedly.

Hyde gasped.  "But, Sev, it's Christmas.  They must be allowed to go be with their families at Christmas."  Her eyes flashed sadly for a fraction of a second and the despair was gone so quickly that Harry wondered if he had imagined it.

"Yes, Christmas indeed.  And if they were to stay here under your guard, they might live to see many future Christmases.  As it is, this may well be their last."

To be continued… 


	7. 7

**part seven**

Harry spent his holiday in the warmth and comfort of the Weasley burrow and had hardly any time to ruminate on what he and Ron had seen and heard before they had departed Hogwarts.  Hermione's appearance at the cottage was the turning point.

"Harry!"  Hermione dashed from the fireplace and hugged him tightly, managing to dust him thoroughly with soot and grime as she did so.  "Ron," she said in a far less enthusiastic manner.  She dropped the bag she had been carrying on the hearth in a gray cloud of soot and grinned.  "My mum and dad are going to send my trunk and Crookshanks on to Kings Cross when it's time."

"Come along, dear," Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.  "So good to see you made it safely.  We'll have a spot of tea before Ron and Harry eat all the cakes for themselves."

With Ginny and Mr. Weasley in London for the day, the three friends and Mrs. Weasley sat down to a pleasantly calm and quiet lunch of tea and pasties.  Hermione softly prattled on about her holiday with her family for the duration of their repast.

Harry cocked his head at Hermione after the table had been cleared and Ron and Mrs. Weasley had gone to check on the garden.  "What's the matter?" he asked pointedly as soon as they were alone.

"What?  Why, nothing's the matter at all.  Why would you think something's wrong?"  Hermione's fidgeting belied her words.

"You've never lied to me before.  Now I know something's up."

Hermione rose so quickly that she almost upset the chair she had been sitting in.  She walked the length of the kitchen and spun on her heel to pace between Harry and the sink.  Her agitation showed plainly on her face and Harry began to grow even more worried by her silence.

"Nothing's happened at the school has it?  It isn't Dumbledore or McGonagall, is it?  Did something happen to Hagrid?  He didn't come by another dragon egg, did he?"  His voice cracked with the possibility that something may have befallen one of the people he cared about.

"No, no, not at all.  It isn't them,," Hermione assured him but she did not cease her pacing.  "It's…"  She stopped suddenly.  "Well, I don't really know all the details, you see…"

"Hermione, just tell me," Harry pleaded with her.

"I got an owl just yesterday from Professor Lupin."

"Lupin sent you an owl?  Why would he do that?"  Harry snagged Hermione's elbow before she could start pacing again.  He was already far too dizzy from watching her first bout of pacing.  "What did he say?"

Hermione's eyes darted around the room nervously.  She twisted her fingers in her hair and bit her lip.  "Well…"

"Hermione!"  Harry's patience was nearing an end.

"Professor Lupin wanted to warn me that there had been an attack at Hogwarts while we were gone.  He wanted me to tell you about it before we went back so you'd be prepared."

"But if Lupin knows about it, then the Order knows too.  The Weasleys haven't said anything," Harry insisted.  He could see Ron and his mother through the kitchen window as they worked in the garden.

"Professor Lupin said in the letter that only a few of the Order know about it yet, they haven't wanted to interrupt anyone's holiday without it being absolutely necessary.  He would have sent the Weasleys an owl too but he's worried about you.  He wanted you to hear the news from a friend so that the blow might be softened a little and so you wouldn't go running off head long into trouble as you're wont to do.  But the problem is that he didn't give me any hint as to how I could do that and I don't know what to say or how to start."

"Hermione!"  Harry was fast becoming exasperated by his friend's flustered meandering.  "Just get on with it."

"It's Professor Berryknots and Professor Snape, Harry.  The Order thinks that Voldemort tried to get to them this holiday.  Professor Lupin says that they've both been in hospital ever since Christmas Day.  I don't know exactly what happened, he didn't give me any details except that they were both hurt.  He said that they were both recovering and that Snape seems to be mainly worried about Hydrangea's health, mental and physical."  Hermione looked close to tears as she finished her news.  "Now that the holidays are over, the Order is sure to be called to a meeting.  Professor Berryknots was supposed to be here as an even greater protection against Voldemort and the Deatheaters.  This only proves what they've been fearing, that Voldemort's powers are even greater than anyone thought."  She had said it all in a rush and was gasping for breath as she finished.

Harry sat in silence.  He had considered any number of things that might have occurred but Hyde and Snape had never entered his wildest imaginings.  His heart beat painfully against his chest and he struggled for breath.  If Voldemort could get to Hyde, what would stop him from attacking him again?  "Maybe Dumbledore was wrong.  Maybe Hyde isn't as powerful as he thought she was," Harry said in a desperate attempt to reason it all out.

"But whoever it was, whatever attacked them, it got Snape too and we know he's not a novice at the dark arts.  Even if Professor Berryknots was not as powerful, he is and I don't think he would have let anything hurt her like it did."

Harry pinned Hermione with a sharp look.  "You know more than you're saying."  

"Harry…" Hermione's strained tone called out to him in vain.  He struggled to find a way to respond but it was Mrs. Weasley's own distressed tone that was able to shake him from his thoughts.

"Hurry, children.  We need to hurry and prepare to leave right away."  She rushed into the kitchen, an envelope clutched tightly in her fist.  "I need to send a reply first, of course."

Ron had followed his mother into the house, his arms filled with carrots and cabbages and his eyes filled with questions.  He dropped his load on the drain board and eyed Hermione suspiciously.  "You knew something was going on all along," he said with slightly less accusation that had been in Harry's similar announcement.

"No, not really," Hermione tried to assure him.  "Lupin only told me that there had been an incident at the school and that both Professors Snape and Berryknots were hurt."

Ron seemed to mull that over while Hermione fretted some more.  "Guess we'd better pack and get ready to leave.  Mum's sending an owl to Dad now and we're all supposed to meet up with the Order tonight."  He left the kitchen in a very un-Ron-like manner, calm and collected.

Hermione stared after him and Harry patted her gently on the shoulder.  "It's okay," he said kindly.  "We'll find it all out when we see the rest of the Order."

Hermione nodded miserably, looking no more reassured than she had to begin with.

"We'll be right back," Harry added as he hurried upstairs to pack his own trunk.  He would have time enough later to tend to his friends' ruffled feathers and injured feelings.

It took the four of them only half an hour to pack and leave the burrow.  Hermione had sent word to her parents about the change of venue for her visit, lest they somehow deduce she was not where she was supposed to be and worry.

They bundled up against the frigid weather and faced the fireplace, each of their faces lined with grim determination and worry.  Harry tried to think of nothing but how nice it would be to see Lupin and Tonks again.  He did not want to think of the course of events that would lead Hyde to be confined to the hospital and Snape to be blaming himself for her condition.  He went through the motions of traveling numbly and he was quite surprised to find himself stepping out of an unused and out of the way chimney in the Leaky Caldron.

"What are we doing here?" he asked while Mrs. Weasley worked to brush off at least some of the sooth his robes had acquired.

Hermione glanced at him curiously.  "We're here to meet up with the others."

"But this isn't where we're supposed to meet.  Why didn't we go straight to—"

Mrs. Weasley placed a silencing finger over his lips and made a motion toward the wall and her ear.  That, Harry understood well enough, the walls had ears.  It was best not to say anything at all until they were certain they were not going to be overheard.

"Come along, dears," Ron's mother said when she was satisfied she had done all she could to straighten the appearance, "we're almost late for dinner."

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a quizzical look.  Who cared about being on time for dinner when Voldemort was launching all out attacks against the protectors of Hogwarts?  They followed her and she led then into the dining room.  At a table against the far wall, sat none other than Moody, Tonks, McGonogall, and Dumbledore.

"Sorry we're late," Mrs. Weasley said quickly as she pushed her three charges toward empty chairs.

"No apology is necessary, Molly," McGonogall assured her.  "How are the three of you?"  She turned her sharp eyes on her students and they shrunk under her close scrutiny.

The usual round of "fine" and "alright" made its way through the table before Hermione gathered enough nerve to utter more than a single syllable.  "Where is Professor—Mr. Lupin?" she stuttered gracelessly.

"Mr. Lupin has voluntarily taken over the guardianship of Professors Snape and Berryknots although I dare say Professor Snape is less than pleased with the recent turn of events."


	8. 8

"But of course he's less than pleased, Professor," Hermione blurted out, "Why, it's his wife who's laying up in hospital, isn't it?"  High indignation flared in her words and her eyes flashed in the flickering lamplight.

Professor Dumbledore blinked at the heated response but Tonks spoke up before he managed a reply.  "Yes, and he's every bit as much in love with her now as he ever was.  We understand, Hermione, don't you fret about that.  We all love Hyde very much and would not wish any harm to come to her."  Tonks made a wide sweep at the pale pink springy curls that rested atop her head.  "I believe what Professor Dumbledore meant was that your Professor Snape is dissatisfied with being in such close quarters with Remus."  She patted Hermione's hand reassuringly.

Hermione seemed to deflate before their eyes and her cheeks reddened with embarrassment.  Suddenly, her bowl of thick stew became highly interesting and she ducked her head over it to hide behind the cascade of her hair.  Ron and Harry shared a look but Harry doubted Ron knew what was going on with their friend any better than he did.

"Well said, Tonks," Dumbledore rumbled softly.  "It's good to know that our Dear Hydrangea has such valiant support already."  He winked at Hermione but Harry was unsure she had seen him thorough her bushy hair.  "It is as Tonks says.  Mr. Lupin's presence is a strain on Professor Snape's good humor these days past but Mr. Lupin refuses to remove himself from hospital until Professor Berryknots is capable of leaving of her own accord."

"Those two will be at one another's throats until we return and force them apart again," Professor McGonogall muttered into her teacup.

"You could always leave them to it and see who comes out alive," Moody suggested.  He shrugged when he got glares from McGonogall, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley and went back to roving his magical eye around its socket.

Mrs. Weasley looked as if she were torn between grimacing and grinning.  "Love is always a difficult thing," she mused.

"Aye, that it is," Dumbledore admitted.  "It is especially so when those concerned are Hydrangea Berryknots, Severus Snape, and Remus Lupin."  He cleared his throat.  "But I asked you here for a reason.  A reason which has far reaching effects on us all."  He cast a knowing eye on Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Harry grew even more nervous.  They had been shunned from the meetings at Black Manor and he had no wish to learn why that might have changed.  He cast a sidelong glance at his friends and found the same concern mirrored in their eyes.

"You have undoubtedly heard that there was trouble at Hogwarts over the holiday.  The truth is that the trouble itself did not breach the school, Professors Snape and Berryknots stumbled across it when they happened to visit Hogsmeade.  It would appear that the Death Eaters are farther reaching than the ministry had knowledge of.  What is important is that both Severus and Hyde are recovering and Madame Pomfrey expects them both to make full recoveries before the new term starts."

"But they were attacked?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Harry screwed up his eyes and studied her for a moment.  He was almost positive she knew more than she was letting on and he wondered how she could possibly have come by such information.

"Yes, they were.  As a direct result, all visits to Hogsmeade will be canceled, at least until such a time that we can be assured of the safety of those visiting."  He sipped at his tea slowly.  "It is as such times as these that we must be vigilant in our attention.  We musn't take unnecessary risks lest we be cornered.  The Death Eaters are becoming far too bold."

Harry mulled that over.  No Hogsmeade weekends would go down rather poorly with his fellow classmates but he did understand the reason behind the decision.  He wondered if Draco would complain to his father and petition to allow those who walked on the shadier side of the dark arts to continue with their visits.  Knowing Mr. Malfoy, he probably would and then he'd threaten to curse anyone's family who stood in his way.

"Come on, Harry."

Harry had been so lost in thought that he had not noticed the group break up.  Only Tonks and Professors Dumbledore and McGonogall remained at the table.  He looked around for Moody and Mrs. Weasley and just caught sight of Ron's mother's skirt as she ducked back around the corner that would take her to the same fireplace they had slid into.  He knew he had missed something important when Ron and Hermione pulled him along after their headmaster and the head of Gryffindor house while Tonks brought up the rear.

"Sev!  Severus, please!"

"Hydrangea, mind your injuries!"  Lupin's strained voice rang out through the corridor outside the Madame Pomfrey's domain.  A loud crash followed the shouted warning and was followed by a darkly muttered curse.  "Severus, stop this nonsense at once before you cause her to injure herself further."

"I would ask you to take your hands off my wife."  Snape's own tone was icy and filled with evil intent.

"Then I suggest you take care to keep her calm and at rest so that I needn't catch her from falling out of her bed.  Talking about going off half-mad to confront the Death Eaters single handedly is _not_ how you take care of your wife."

Another curse, even more vehement and nasty than the last, punctuated the silence that fell.

Professor McGonogall looked positively horrified as she glanced down to see Ron and Harry snickering behind their hands.  She straightened her shoulders and walked stiffly forward just as the door to the hospital wing made a loud crashing sound.  "My goodness," she gasped in outrage, "what could that have been?"

"I believe that sounded like a vase smashing into the door," Tonks supplied.  "A crystal vase with hand painted butterflies filled with pink and purple hydrangeas, I would hazard to guess."  She winked at Hermione.  "I sent it over as soon as I heard Hyde was laid up in hospital.  It's quite perfect for her really.  You can shatter it and then watch as it mends itself again.  Wonder how many times she's seen it do that…"

"Hyde!" Lupin warned.  "Hyde, must you keep pitching that thing at my head?"

Hyde's voice was tired and anxious when she replied, "No, I alternate between you and Sev.  Remember, I got Severus the last time."

Professor Dumbledore reached the door before any more of their argument could coalesce into more violence.  He stepped in just as Hyde's vase completed reassembling itself and he picked it up with more care than was obviously necessary.  Harry could see both Lupin and Snape glaring heatedly at one another and looking quite the part of drowned rats with their hair sopping their collars and puddles forming in each of their footsteps.

"Dumbledore!" Hyde cried.  "Do relieve me of my protectors before they kill each other."  She had lost the luster of cheery health that Harry had become so accustomed to since he had first met her.  Her eyes were flat and worried looking and her skin seemed to hang on her bones.  She looked terribly tired, as if she could lay down for a decade and still not be fully rested when she roused.  Harry was no longer surprised that Dumbledore had led them back to Hogwarts rather than joining in on the Order meeting.  He wondered how much longer Snape and Lupin would survive staying in the same room.

"Dumbledore!"  Madame Pomfrey called out in a harried way that made Harry and Ron both shrink back a little.  She stood at the far end of the room, a wet spot darkening the hem of her robe.  She appeared frazzled, her hair beginning to stand out on end all about her head and her eyes dancing wildly around the room.  "I relinquish this lot to you," she stated in a booming voice.  "I wash my hands of them."  She stomped through the room and paused only long enough to add, "Severus is quite recovered and Hydrangea may be removed to her own chamber as soon as those two can manage to get along long enough for her to stop throwing things.  Children I can handle, but these three?"  She flailed her hands about to indicate the three adults behind her.  "They are far worse than even young Malfoy or Longbottom on their worst days."

As soon as Madame Pomfrey had swept down the hall, Hyde slid out of bed.  As she moved to rise to her feet, two pair of hands prevented her from doing so.  "Really now!" she demanded.  "You heard Madame Pomfrey, I can go back to my own bed."  She pushed at the hands futilely.  "Sev, do fetch that vase for me."

"I am not going to supply you with ammunition again, Hyde.  I have learned the error in that already."  He also did not move back from holding her to the bed.

"I meant for you to carry it to my chamber for me," Hyde griped.  Then, as if she had completely missed their appearance, she turned to smile brightly at the six who stood at the doorway.  "Children!  Come and visit with me, won't you?"  She settled back so that both Snape and Lupin let go of her and she patted the edge of the bed.  "Come and tell me about your Christmases."  

Harry looked toward Hermione who was thoughtfully chewing he lip and Ron who looked torn between taking Hyde up on her offer and fleeing the room where Snape was glowering so coldly at them.  In the end, he and Hermione moved forward at the same time and Ron followed.  They sidled past Snape and slipped closer to the bed.

"I will prepare your things," Snape said with an exceptionally chilly glare Harry's way.  "You will not remain so far from my protection any longer."

Harry did not miss the odd glint that struggled to the surface of Hyde's emotionless eyes.  She followed Snape's progress out the door without saying anything.  "I wonder if he will mind my vase in our chambers…"

Tonks glanced down at the vase in question.  "So, did you discover its unusual properties before or after you pitched it at your questionable guardians?"

"Oh," Hyde drawled and twirled a lock of hair around her finger, "you know how it is…"

"I know how Severus and Remus together tend to make you throw things, if that's what you mean."

Hyde shook her head slowly.  "So, Harry, did you get anything interesting for Christmas?"


	9. 9

Harry ducked his head, suddenly uncertain, and let his hair obscure his face from Hyde's curious gaze but he knew she had not yet turned away from him.

"Tonks dear?  Would you be so kind as to deliver my lovely vase into Sev's care?  I believe Professor Dumbledore still has it and I know Severus won't willingly tote it to our chambers.  It's absolutely beautiful though.  Did you know that every time it puts itself back together, the painted butterflies flutter about a bit?"  Hyde kept her voice light but there was a definite strain to her tone.

"Of course," Tonks agreed a bit too quickly.  The Auror was no more than three steps out the door when a distinctive tinkling crash resounded in the hallway.  "Merlin's beard!" Tonks' voice resonated through the doorway.  "I thought I'd stopped doing that…"

"I guess her anti-clutz charm finally wore off," Hyde murmured absently, "and it had been working so well.  Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonogall, you needn't to have come so far just to see that I got myself into such a fix as this.  What about your holidays?"

McGonogall crossed the distance between them and laid an unsteady hand on Hyde's narrow shoulder.  "As if something so trivial as a holiday could keep us away…"

"Minerva is right, Hyde.  Our concern for your well being is of far more import than treacle tart or apple dumplings."

Hyde tipped her head to one side.  "You just wanted an excuse to escape Eulis' monologues this year.  Yes, that would be my guess," she decided.

Dumbledore chuckled deeply.  "You have found me out, Hydrangea.  I admit I do tend to excuse myself when my grand-nephew begins his yearly diatribe.  Your incident was a perfect cover for my departure."  He nodded slightly and McGonogall stepped back from the bedside.  "I believe we will leave you to your preparation for departing this place, Hyde.  I expect I will see you later in the week at some time or another."

Hyde smiled and nodded.  She watched the pair leave the room and pull the door closed behind them.  Once she seemed satisfied that no one else would enter, Hyde turned back to her scrutiny of Harry.  "How are you really, Harry?"

"I'm fine."  He looked curiously into Hyde's open face and wondered what it was that she was thinking.

"Hmm…"  Hyde plucked at the quilt that was draped over her legs and Harry stared at the strange design.  He could just imagine the look of disgust that would cross his Aunt Petunia's face if she were faced with the coverlet.  First of all, it looked to have been pieced together out of old school uniforms, scarves and dragon's hide and the odd conglomeration of materials gave the whole thing a worried and confused look.  Then there was the subject of the pieced work itself, in the midst of a giant Hogwarts emblem a snake and raven stood intertwined.  The dragon's hide pieced snake glinted in the flickering lamplight and the worn and slightly tatty recycled bits of school robes that made up the raven looked soft and inviting.

"What an interesting quilt," Hermione commented as she reached out a hand to brush against a raven's wing.

"Yes," Hyde sounded almost absent when she agreed and her fingers kept playing with the quilt.  "It was a wedding present from a very dear friend of mine.  I had almost forgotten about it entirely until Sev brought it out of a chest on Christmas Eve.  You see, when Professor Snape and I announced our engagement, we caused quite a stir.  It was just not done, this mingling of houses.  Especially between Slitherin and Ravenclaw, full-blood and mudblood…"

Harry, Ron and Hermione kept quiet and waited for Hyde to continue on her own.  Harry pulled a chair closer to the bedside and he and Hermione managed to perch on either side of the over-stuffed seat while Ron found a spot of his own.  Hermione propped her elbow on her knee and sunk her chin into her fist.

"Alright, I'll tell you, but you must be willing to talk to me about what's troubling all of you when my tale is done."  She waited until she had gotten affirmative nods from the three of them before she spoke again.  "We were encouraged by many people we knew to rethink our decision and I believe Professor Snape would have been swayed had I listened to any of the talk that was bandied about.  It was a long time ago, so very long ago, far before either one of us were employed here as teachers.  Professor Dumbledore asked me to come and teach at the height of the fuss about the impending wedding.  I had been turned down for so many jobs already because of my relationship and I was relieved that he at least did not intend to hold my emotions against me and I leapt at the opportunity.  I walked into my first Defense Against the Dark Arts class that fall, two months before my wedding and a full three years before Voldemort's height of power.

"I suppose my friends were shocked by my decision to marry someone so utterly disagreeable as Sev but they had never cared or tried to get to know him when we were all at school together.  It was when I was in my third year that I happened across him in the library one Christmas holiday.  The rest of the school had already left to spend the two weeks with their families but my mother had long since died and my father had sent me word that he would be out of the country on business that Christmas so I elected to remain at school.  On the first two days I was terribly lonely since no other Ravenclaws had remained behind and I refused to leave our common room even to go downstairs to eat until the third morning.  When I walked into the great hall that morning with a stack of books in my arms, I was startled to discover a single table standing in the midst of the room.  There were only a handful of instructors remaining and even fewer students and I slipped into the nearest empty seat and proceeded to bury my nose in a book.  I paid little heed to my fellow diners but I did manage to notice the boy who was seated next to me had a stack of books almost as tall as my own.  A day or so later, I bumped into him in the restricted section of the library.  One thing led to another and we ended up spending the two weeks studying and researching the dark arts."

Hyde rubbed a hand wearily across her face.  "We kept our friendship very much a secret.  We sought out one another's company only when we were assured we would not be seen.  Our relationship very possibly never would have amounted to anything had Remus and I not run into one another in Diagon Alley the week before my sixth year was to begin.  Lily, James, Remus – the whole lot of them - were all entering their final year here and I had just gotten word back on my OWLS and had wanted to do a bit of celebrating.  I'd sent Delwynderyn to Sev to ask him to join me for an ice cream and was standing in a little used corner of Knockturn Alley waiting for him to join me when I saw Lily, James and Remus walk past.  Remus noticed me standing there and Lily asked me to join them for some celebrating of their own just as Sev walked up."  Hyde sighed and slumped back against the headboard.  "To sum up, there was a terrible argument that broke out between James and Sev and I ran off in tears."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and Ron cleared his throat.  "What happened then?" Hermione questioned.  She flicked a bushy lock of hair over her shoulder and settled herself more comfortably on her edge of the chair cushion.

"Well, I didn't stop running until Remus caught up with me out on the street in front of The Leaky Caldron.  He managed to talk me into going back through to Diagon Alley although I swore I'd turn him into a toad if he let James come anywhere near me.  I promised him that the Ministry's ban of underaged magic usage would do little to dissuade me from following through on my threat and I suppose he knew enough of my interest in the dark arts and my proficiency in spell casting in general to know that I was deadly serious.  He took me to a quiet table at a little tea shop and poured tea down me until I stopped crying and started talking.  I told him about how Sev and I had been friends for almost three years and how we had kept it such a secret so no one would give us grief over our relationship and Remus asked me if I thought I loved Severus."

"And the rest, as they say, is history."

"Remus!  Where did you disappear to?" Hyde pinned him with a worried gaze.  "You were here and I couldn't get you to leave and then, all of a sudden, you were gone.  What happened?  What's wrong?"

The former Professor Lupin shook his head slowly and walked closer to Hyde's bed until he was close enough to lay a hand on her arm.  "Nothing happened.  I thought Severus might appreciate a hand moving your trunks and so I went to offer my services."

"You were always such a poor liar," Hyde grumbled gently.  "You went to continue your argument out of my hearing."

"I would think you would appreciate my side of this particular argument, Hyde.  After all, I am on your side in this."  With barely a flick of his wand, Lupin produced a lovely poof of upholstered chair and settled down gently against the soft fabric.  "However, since your husband had no need of my levitating services and has already altered his plans with regard to the near future and his part in it, I found myself without pleasant company so I thought to return to your side."

"That's as likely a story as any, I suppose.  But he did change his mind?"  She looked so hopeful that Harry thought Professor Lupin might lie to her again just to keep the flat blankness from returning to her eyes.

"For the moment, but Hyde, you know he's right in what he says."

The curtain of worry and illness fell back across her face and Hyde sagged down into her pillows.  "Yes, I know, but if he would just wait until I am recovered…"  She stopped before she had completed her thought and turned her heavy eyes back to Harry, Hermione and Ron.  "Never mind, it's of no consequence now."

A few quiet minutes later, Professor Flintwick appeared at the infirmary door with a heavy tea tray floating in the air just in front of him piled high with teacups, cakes and all manner of sweets.  With a bright smile he set out their repast and kept up a steady stream of light conversation until Snape returned at last and ushered Hyde into a dressing gown and out of the room.  She slipped around him and snatched her quilt from the bed before she allowed herself to be escorted back toward the main part of the castle.  With a wink at Harry, she reminded them that she had not yet forgotten their promise to talk to her just before she disappeared from sight down the corridor in front of Snape.  Professor Flintwick bid them farewell as well and left with the remains of their tea floating ahead of him on the silver tray.

"So what really happened to them?" Harry asked Lupin as soon as the infirmary was empty.  He had begun helping the older man strip the linens from the bed Hyde had been using and glanced sideways at Hermione who was busily relieving the pillows of their cases and Ron who was trying to fold a blanket so that it was square rather than trapezoidal.

Lupin slowed his movements and seemed content to wind the sheets up in a giant lumpy ball.  "They met with some resistance at Hogsmeade."

"Deatheaters in Hogsmeade?" Hermione choked.

"Indeed.  They tried to attack Hyde and Severus with the Cruciatus curse but luckily it was snowing heavily and made seeing difficult and they were only side swiped by the main force of it."

Hermione's eyes had gone round as saucers and Harry thought that he might well be similarly afflicted.  "The Cruciatus curse…"

Lupin's face was deathly pale and even more ashen than usual.  "Yes.  There are Deatheaters roving about Hogsmeade and they are using the Unforgivable curses.  Do not, under any circumstances, allow them to find you separated from the protection of Hogwarts.  Hyde's veil can only do so much, you must be on constant guard."

"Hyde's veil?" Harry asked.  "What veil?"

Lupin smiled.  "Ah, the Veil of Mysteries.  Hasn't Hyde mentioned it to you yet in class?"

They shook their heads dumbly.

"That's odd," Lupin mused.  "Well, it's for her to decide after all.  I'm sure she will tell you when she feels you are ready or in need of the information."

Ron chucked the blanket on the foot of the bed and sat down heavily next to it.  "So we'll know about it when we pass our NEWTS?"

Lupin's smile broadened.  "Knowing Hyde, you'll have to pass the Aurors' examinations before she's decided you're well equipped enough to handle the information.  Come now, I've heard that the Gryffindor common room looks exactly as it did when I was a student here.  Come with me to see?"

Knowing they were being put off but not able to find a way around it, Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Lupin out of the hospital.  They passed Madame Pomfrey as they walked and she glowered sourly at Lupin.

"I trust you will be able to restrain yourself from becoming a patient of mine in the near future, Remus.  I've enough children to deal with without having to worry with you."

Remus bowed his head.  "You have my word, Madame."


	10. 10

They were seated cozily in the Gryffindor common room, all eyes firmly locked on Lupin's face. Lupin, for his part, looked completely happy to sink into the soft armchair and stare at the fire in the grate, ignoring them completely.

"It's odd really," he said. "As a child you become so accustomed to something being the way it is and once you're grown you're torn. In some ways, things remembered should remain exactly as they always were, but one _would_ expect _some_ amount of change."

"Mr. Lupin."

He lifted his eyes from the fire and he smiled at Hermione. "Yes, Miss Granger, I'm hedging. Tricky bit of situation we've found ourselves in. It's hard to say how we'll come out of it." His skin was still gray, even in the flickering warmth of the fire, and his eyes looked sunken and sore.

"The Veil of Mysteries," she insisted, "I've never heard of anything that sounds remotely similar, at least not in any of the books _I've_ read." Hermione tried to tame her unruly frizzy hair to no avail. "Is it a protection spell? It sounds like it."

"It is quite simply," Lupin said softly, his voice gentle and slow, "Hyde's Veil."

"Not that again," Ron moaned. "We're just going round in circles. _You-know-who _will have got us all before we ever get a straight answer out of anyone."

"Ron's right," Harry declared. "Everyone's so bent on protecting our innocence that we're going to be hit with an Unforgivable Curse while everybody else is busy keeping secrets from us."

"Ah, I do hope you're wrong, Harry. The world would be a far less interesting place should Voldemort return fully to power." Lupin resettled his feet on a threadbare ottoman whose stuffing poked out at the seams. "To be completely honest with you, I never fully grasped the concept behind the Veil of Mysteries myself – even when Hyde first proposed it to me. She was so excited – we were all so very young and determined and so certain we were impervious to Voldemort's evil. We thought we were invincible, safe from the dangers we battled against. We were soon proved wrong. So very, very wrong."

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared guarded looks. This was the closest anyone had yet come to giving them an explanation. They dared not breathe too loudly lest Lupin change his mind.

"It all began before any of you were born, when we were still quite green and unseasoned. Hyde had graduated from Hogwarts, the most knowledgeable witch of her age – as Sirius and I used to tease her, and her relationship with Snape had been outted. Times were hard for them, especially for Hyde. No one would speak to her. She had no job prospects. Snape had just as much difficulty, I suppose – I never cared enough to ask him since it was Hyde I worried about. She spent her days researching and studying all forms of dark magic. If it was remotely related to the dark arts, Hyde was in it up to her elbows. It's what gave Dumbledore the notion to offer her the teaching position here."

Lupin fell quiet and Harry thought he might have dozed off into a nap. He felt Ron nudge him in the ribs sharply.

"She was spectacular." There was a strange misty quality to Lupin's sickly eyes. "When she told me of her position back at Hogwarts, she glowed with pride. We spent an entire week searching through old school books and class notes, trying to organize her first term's work. It was then that she began to discuss what she called her Veil."

"Remus!"

Ron, Harry and Hermione jumped so high, they nearly unseated themselves. Lupin for his part only looked slightly intrigued as he turned his face back to the fire.

"Yes, Tonks?"

Tonk's hair glowed brilliant green in the flames and she squinted her eyes disapprovingly at Lupin. "What are you up to, Remus?"

"Nothing at all. I was curious as to the present state of the Gryffindor common room and Harry, Ron and Hermione here were kind enough to help me gain entrance. The fat lady has not changed one bit, I'm pleased to say."

"Likely story," was all Tonks had to say to that.

"Where are you that you're using the hearth?" Hermione watched the dancing flames lick the image of Tonks' face. "I thought you were just in the castle."

"I just nipped off to run an errand. I'll return in the morning. I wanted to remind your Mr. Lupin of his _appointment_ tomorrow." Her eyes narrowed again.

"I won't forget, Nymphadora," he murmured.

"Oh!"

Lupin grinned as Tonks' eyes widened in shock of hearing her first name. With a flick of his wand he dispersed the oddly colored flames and the fire glowed red and yellow once again.

Harry received the note Delwynderyn carried to him at breakfast the next day. He worried over it for the rest of the morning.

Hyde smiled tiredly when they entered the sleeping chamber. Harry had almost skived off on her tea invitation, he had no desire to find himself in Snape's inner sanctum. It was Dumbledore who pressed him to accept Professor Berryknots' invitation to visit and who had accompanied him deep into the dungeons, saying he wanted to see how Hydrangea was doing himself and speak with Professor Snape as well.

She looked rather worse than she had before, but Harry thought that might only be due to her surroundings. Where the hospital wing had been light and airy, the chamber she now lay in was dark and dank. It couldn't possibly be a healthy place for her to recover.

He stood by as Dumbledore chatted with her and he watched Snape hover over her. Harry had no wish to alter his hatred of the potions master, he still felt Snape was fully guilty of Sirius' death, but it was a fairly remarkable sight: nasty, greasy Snape fluffing pillows and rearranging coverlets.

"Really, Sev darling, I believe the pillows will start a revolt soon if you don't stop swatting at them." She smiled lovingly at Snape as she said it and Harry thought he might just become ill. She batted a feather that had loosed itself from one of the pillows away from her face. "Why don't you and Professor Dumbledore run along. I'm famished for my tea and it's due to arrive any moment now. I'll be quite alright. Who better to protect me than the very one who had defeated Voldemort an unbelievable four times already?" She winked at Harry.

"I'll return for another visit," Dumbledore promised, "when you have had the chance to settle in a bit more."

"I'll look forward to it."

The chamber door closed solidly behind them once Snape had cast one last look at Hyde. She laced her fingers together in her lap and studied Harry. He was reminded of their foray into Knockturn Alley. She looked no less out of place but just as at ease with her surroundings. She opened her mouth to speak when the door opened again.

"Harry Potter!"

Harry smiled because it was none other than Dobby standing in the doorway, a tea tray floating in the air in front of him. His feet were covered in more mismatched socks, one green with sparkly purple fairies and the other red and gray striped, and he wore a satiny kimono-like woman's blouse belted around his middle so that it hung quite like a dress.

"Hullo, Dobby."

"Professor Berryknots-Snape said she would be having a guest for tea, but she never told Dobby it would be Harry Potter, sir!" he squeaked joyously.

Hyde grinned at the two of them. "Dobby, you're so wonderfully punctual," she praised. "And tea looks absolutely delicious as usual."

Dobby ducked his head slightly under the weight of her praise and his abnormally large ears jiggled.

"And what a beautiful," Hyde paused, seeming to search for the right word, "outfit," she decided at last. "I love the socks!"

Dobby blushed and set the tea tray on a heavy table near the bed. "Professor Snape told Dobby to bring you a pensieve as well." Dobby snapped his fingers and a shallow stone bowl joined the tea items on the table. "Professor Berryknots-Snape must rest. Too many bad memories filling up her thoughts."

Hyde smiled sweetly. "You and Sev are probably right. I'll see to it. Thank you so much, Dobby."

"Bye, Dobby," Harry called as the house elf walked toward the door.

"You'll come for tea on your afternoon off, won't you?" Hyde called just before Dobby disappeared entirely.

"Oh, yes," he squeaked excitedly.

Hyde chuckled when Dobby was gone. "I'm showing him how to smock a, well, a smock," she explained. "Although I must admit I love his own fashion creations."

"You do?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Oh yes," she sighed. "He's so very much enamored with clothing and colors, it's rather refreshing." She traced the runes along the side of the pensieve. "You know, Tonks and Remus have been keeping me company quite a bit since the school cleared out for the holidays."

Harry nodded. He suspected they would, not that he had given the matter of Hyde's possible loneliness any thought. He felt rather bad about his lack of attention, come to think of it.

"They told me about all that happened last year."

Harry nodded again. This time it was not out of guilt that he kept his silence. How could he explain to Hyde, whom he adored, that he despised her husband with every fiber of his being? Especially when Hyde was so strangely in love with her husband?

"It must be difficult, losing Sirius on top of everything else. Remus told me that the two of you had grown quite close."

"He was my godfather," he said simply. From her tone of voice, he knew Hyde was having difficulty broaching this subject but he felt no desire to ease her way. After all, she had chosen their topic of conversation.

"Yes. I'm glad he escaped Azkaban, I'm glad the two of you were able to enjoy some amount of time together."

"He never needed to have died," Harry spat. "If only—" he caught himself before he blamed Snape and reminded himself that Hyde was supposed to be resting.

"Yes, I've heard about that too. I can understand your feelings, just as much as I can understand my husband's actions, not to mention Sirius' own behavior. It was, I'm afraid, a no-win situation. The only consolation I can offer is that I too have seen the veil in the Department of Mysteries. The souls that lurk just beyond the veil are happy, Harry. You can hear it when you stand before it. They're just waiting for us to join them one day."

"That's what Luna said," Harry admitted. It had sounded odd when Luna said those words but they had a ring of truth to them when they Hyde said it. Maybe it had a lot to do with the fact that Hyde wasn't reading a newspaper upside-down or staring dreamily out into space. "But I still don't think Sirius wants to be there. I don't understand why he won't find some way to come back."

"Harry, is that what you really want for him? Would you truly want to pull him from a place where he's happy and reunited with friends who never doubted his loyalty? Would you curse him to living half a life, never truly here nor there?"

Harry thought hard for a moment and munched slowly on the teacake Hyde forced into his hand. As much as he hated to admit it, Hyde was right. Maybe she was right. Sirius could be perfectly happy to be where ever it was that he was. The voices had sounded quite pleasant through the veil. "It's still hard," he said at last.

"Yes. Yes, it is. But one day you'll get to be with him again. We'll all be reunited with those who wait for us beyond the veil."

"Who's waiting for you?" Harry cocked his head and wondered if he should not have asked the question that had suddenly popped into his thoughts.

"Well, my mother of course. She died when I was little more than a baby. But I lost many friends too in the battle against Voldemort and it will be nice to be among them again one day."

There was a haunted quality to her eyes that disturbed him and Harry suddenly wanted to retract his hasty question.

"And my child is there. I will rejoice to see him one day."

Harry buried his nose in his teacup and wished he could crawl into it entirely. He'd been stupid to forget the conversation from the hallway in the Leaky Caldron.


End file.
